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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091401">The Life and Times of the Heroes of Paris</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptplayer5701/pseuds/tptplayer5701'>tptplayer5701</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>"Mind Games"-verse [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action, Alix Kubdel is Like a Disney Princess, Atlantis, Babysitting, Badass Alix Kubdel, Bossbug, Butterfly Miraculous, Chloé Bourgeois Being Chloé Bourgeois, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Domestic Fluff, Dragon Kagami Tsurugi | Ryuko, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Female Friendship, Friendship, Good Chloé Bourgeois, Good Friend Sabrina Raincomprix, Horse Max Kanté | Pegasus, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Kwami &amp; Miraculous Lore, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard Knows, Minor Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, Miraculous Holder Ivan Bruel, Miraculous Holder Mylène Haprèle, Miraculous Holder Rose Lavillant, Miraculous Holder Sabrina Raincomprix, Monkey Lê Chiến Kim | Roi Singe, Mouse Miraculous, Music, New Miraculous, New Miraculous Holders, Outer Space, Ox Miraculous, Pig Miraculous, Plagg Being Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Service Dogs, Spies &amp; Secret Agents, Terrorists, Tomoe Tsurugi's Parenting, minor injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:09:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,671</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091401</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptplayer5701/pseuds/tptplayer5701</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A "Mind Games"-verse Anthology:</p><p>This is a series of one-shots focusing on different Heroes (Adrien/Marinette, Max, Mylène/Ivan, Kagami...). This picks up after "Spring Break" and interweaves with the next few stories.</p><p>1. Adrien and Marinette babysitting, with a little help from their Kwamis<br/>2. Pegasus makes a Voyage into space<br/>3. All Ivan and Mylène wanted was a quiet picnic at the Champ de Mars...<br/>4. Nothing can go wrong when three heroes go to the mall, right?<br/>5-6. Acolytes of the Mundane - The Heroes are in trouble, and Ladybug can only turn to one person for help.<br/>7. Kagami listens to Kitty Section and thinks she recognizes Luka's newest song.<br/>8. Ivan and Mylène make an unusual discovery on a trip to London<br/>9. What can give Kwamis PTSD?<br/>10. All the Kwamis currently in the Mansion meet in the Miracle Box<br/>11. Why is Adrien giving the Gorilla a barrette?<br/>12. Manon invites herself to the Mansion. What could go wrong?<br/>13. Chloe has a heart-to-heart with her puppy<br/>14. "The name's Bourgeois. Chloe Bourgeois."<br/>15. Heroes bonding</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois &amp; Alix Kubdel, Chloé Bourgeois &amp; Kagami Tsurugi, Chloé Bourgeois &amp; Sabrina Raincomprix, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Kagami Tsurugi &amp; Tomoe Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine &amp; Kagami Tsurugi, Manon Chamack &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug &amp; Kagami Tsurugi, Max Kanté &amp; Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté &amp; Sabrina Raincomprix, Max Kanté/Sabrina Raincomprix, Plagg &amp; Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Rose Lavillant &amp; Kagami Tsurugi, Sabrina Raincomprix &amp; Kagami Tsurugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>"Mind Games"-verse [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666807</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Babysitting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adrien and Marinette are on babysitting duty while their American guests have a date-night</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one-shot takes place sometime after <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24960730/chapters/60421033">“Girls’ Day Out”</a> and answers some of the questions raised by stories like “A Miraculous Adventure.” If you haven’t read “Girls’ Day Out,” you’ll probably be confused. The brief explanation is that Adrien has visitors from the American Miraculous Temple staying at the Mansion with him.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Marinette wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she pushed the door to Adrien’s bedroom open after spending two hours at Agreste finishing up the fall line, but this sure wasn’t it. It looked like Adrien’s entire collection of Heroes of Paris action figures had thrown up on the floor. A couple of anime figures Adrien kept on his bookcases were set up to one side in fighting poses. And in the middle of the mess were Adrien and Marco. The toddler held the prototype Lupa Gris action figure that had arrived that morning in one hand and Ryoku in the other and was waving Ryoku around and making wind noises. Adrien had Taureau Dechaine, who was dual-wielding both his own cattle prod and Cat Noir’s staff. The three heroes faced off against a pair of anime samurai, a quartet of ninjas… and Plagg.</p><p class="Preference">“Kid,” Plagg complained, folding his arms, “why do <em>I</em> have to be the villain!?!”</p><p class="Preference">“Well, we need someone for the Heroes to fight, don’t we?” Adrien replied, grinning mischievously.</p><p class="Preference">“Yeah, but why does it have to actually be <em>me</em>???” Plagg scowled as he ducked a blow from Lupa Gris, who was holding Miss Pinky’s rake. “Why can’t you just beat on your toys?”</p><p class="Preference">“It’s more fun this way,” Adrien answered innocently. “Besides, I promise I’ll sign you up for ‘Gentleman’s Gruyere’ after this.”</p><p class="Preference">“The things I do for cheese,” Plagg grumbled, knocking King Monkey, Cat Noir, and Pegasus over with a zanbatō three times his own size.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Adrien tossed the end of a mini-yo-yo to Plagg, who sighed, held onto the yo-yo, and shuffled around in circles to wrap himself up in the string. Marco giggled and clapped in delight before smacking Plagg in the head with Ryoku. Plagg let out a melodramatic moan and collapsed to the floor on his side. Marinette felt Tikki land on her shoulder and start shaking with mirth.</p><p class="Preference">“Plagg is such a big softie,” Tikki whispered into Marinette’s ear. “He hides it well, but he actually likes children. Deep… deep down, at least.”</p><p class="Preference">“So is this just for Marco’s benefit?” Marinette asked, leaning against the doorframe and arching an eyebrow.</p><p class="Preference">“Of course; why wouldn’t it be?” Adrien responded, giving her a wide-eyed look.</p><p class="Preference">Plagg snorted and phased through the yo-yo string. “As if you need a <em>toddler</em> around to play with dolls, kid!” He glanced up at Marinette. “He would be playing with his dolls like this whether the runt was here or not!” he told her, smirking.</p><p class="Preference">“They’re not dolls, they’re action figures, Plagg,” Adrien retorted with a huff. He frowned and looked back at Marinette. “Wait… how long have you been watching us?”</p><p class="Preference">“Long enough.” She smirked. “You’re really good with Marco! Could it be because you’re at the same maturity level as a toddler, Kitty?”</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Meow</em>-ch!” Adrien clutched his chest in mock-horror. “How could say such a <em>furr</em>-ible thing to me, Milady? You have to be <em>kitten</em>! It will be im-<em>paw</em>-sible for me to recover my dignity after this <em>cat</em>-astrophe!”</p><p class="Preference">“You are un-<em>purr</em>-lievable,” Marinette muttered, shaking her head affectionately. “So how did you get stuck on babysitting duty?”</p><p class="Preference">Adrien shrugged. “Max opened a portal for Pablo to come for a visit this morning,” he explained. “He and Julia wanted to go out for a couple hours on a date tonight.”</p><p class="Preference">“Wasn’t helping out with Marco half the reason Lise came?” Marinette asked.</p><p class="Preference">“She went to see the city with Kagami, Chloe, and Sabrina,” replied Adrien, shrugging. “And Mira said that she would probably murder a child – most likely accidentally – if she watched him. So… Plagg and me it is!” He grinned. “I don’t mind watching him at all!”</p><p class="Preference">“I’m not sure which is more adorable,” Marinette observed. “You babysitting, or Plagg pretending to be a monster for your Hero dolls to fight!”</p><p class="Preference">“They’re called ‘action figures,’ Princess,” Adrien retorted, grinning.</p><p class="Preference">“Regardless, you’re both still cute.”</p><p class="Preference">“Did you <em>really</em> just call the God of Destruction ‘cute,’ Pigtails?” Plagg grumbled, glaring at her. “I will destroy this city with my bare hands!” He held his arms up and stomped around, growling exaggeratedly. Marco hit him in the head with Lupa Gris, and Plagg scowled.</p><p class="Preference">“Aren’t you just the cutest thing!” Tikki teased, floating over to him and pinching his cheeks. He glared up at her and folded his arms in a pout before getting a mischievous glint in his eye. Tikki gasped as he pushed her to tumble through the air toward Marco, who promptly swiped her out of the air and stuck her head in his mouth, giggling contentedly. “You stupid cat!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette shared a look with Adrien, and both burst out laughing as the two Kwamis bickered. <em>Is this what it will be like when </em>we<em> have children?</em> Marinette wondered, taking in the happiness clear in Adrien’s face. He looked up at her with a question in his eyes. “Mme Lenoir is off today,” Marinette told him, “so how about if I make pizza for us while you find a movie?”</p><p class="Preference">“Sounds <em>purr</em>-fect, <em>Purr</em>-incess!”</p>
<hr/><p>About an hour later, Marinette returned to find most of the action figures put away and Marco sitting on Adrien’s lap at the piano bench, banging away happily on the keys. Plagg had taken a position at the far end of the room wincing and covering his ears. Tikki was nowhere to be seen. Marinette set down three plates of pizza in front of the couch. “Who’s hungry?”</p><p class="Preference">Adrien picked up Marco and carried him over to the couch, settling him down between himself and Marinette. Marinette set a plate in front of Marco before passing one to Adrien and taking the last for herself. “So what movie did you pick, Kitty?” she asked, glancing over at Adrien, who was grinning eagerly.</p><p class="Preference">“I thought, what better than <em>The Adventures of Ladybug and Chat Noir</em>?” he replied, hitting play.</p><p class="Preference">“You mean the movie about <em>us</em>?” She reached over to ruffle his hair. “You <em>would</em> want to watch that movie, wouldn’t you?”</p><p class="Preference">“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a movie where Ladybug and Cat Noir wind up together!”</p><p class="Preference">She rolled her eyes. “I still can’t believe you agreed to voice <em>yourself</em> in that movie…”</p><p class="Preference">“Who better?” Adrien shrugged. He smirked. “After all, I do sound a little like the <em>real</em> Cat Noir, don’t I?”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette stared at him.</p>
<hr/><p>When Julia and Pablo carefully pushed the bedroom door open 90 minutes later, they found the TV playing the movie’s end credits, though no one was watching it. Marinette and Adrien lay curled up together on the couch, fast asleep, with their Kwamis lying on top of them. Marco, meanwhile, had gotten the Lupa Gris doll out along with a karate guy with spiky hair and was smacking them together happily on the floor in front of the couch.</p><p class="Preference">“¡Oye, muchacho!” Pablo called softly. “Vamos a dormer, hijo.” [Hey, child! Let’s go to bed, son.]</p><p class="Preference">“Papá,” whined Marco, pouting.</p><p class="Preference">Pablo picked him up gently and extricated the toys from his hands. He carried the still-protesting Marco out of the room. Julia pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa, spread it over Adrien and Marinette, turned out the light, and closed the door. “Gracias, chicos,” she whispered, following her family back to their room. [Thanks, guys.]</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Cosmic Voyage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Emergency! Pegasus makes a Voyage into space.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is an idea I had for a while (roughly since watching “Startrain,” actually), but it didn’t really fit into the story until now, after <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24752512/chapters/59844445">“The Queen is Dead”</a> and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946924">“A Funny Thing Happened.”</a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Max squinted through his jeweler’s magnifiers at the tiny circuit board he was attempting to affix to its proper position. The delicate operation took all of his concentration to avoid a glob of solder landing in the wrong place and ruining months of hard work. He placed the tiny wire on the proper connection, nodded for Markov to hold it steady, and placed a minute amount of solder to hold the wire in place. Satisfied, he shut the hatch covering the circuitry, leaned back on his stool, blinked his eyes several times to ease the tension, and removed the magnifiers, replacing them with his miraculous pince nez. He set the magnifiers down on the lab table next to a selection of thin ropes.</p><p>“I calculate a 65% chance that this model will function correctly!” Markov chirped excitedly, spinning around in a circle.</p><p> “I certainly hope you are correct,” Max replied, stretching his fingers and twisting his neck. “This is the fifth prototype we have constructed, and all the others have shorted out after a single pulse!”</p><p>“Based on my analysis, the composition of the wiring is the primary fail-point,” commented Turing, dropping closer to examine the device. “Last time the copper wires flash-melted!”</p><p>“Well, you <em>are</em> trying to replicate alien technology with human equipment,” observed Kaalki, patting Max on the shoulder. “You can be forgiven for making some mistakes. Why, Leonardo designed thousands of devices trying to replicate mechanically what I enabled him to do magically, and none of his attempts were <em>remotely</em> possible at the time!”</p><p>“Leonardo? As in da Vinci?”</p><p>“Of course. Who else would he have used as the model for <em>Mona Lisa</em>’s smile?” Kaalki smirked.</p><p>Max gave the Kwami a confused look. He was never sure which of her stories he should actually believe. She was certainly drawn to “remarkable” people, but the definition of “remarkable” seemed to change on a daily basis. Sometimes she would ignore him and tell him not to speak to her without at least three Nobel Prizes; other days she thought his sandwich-making skills were “remarkable” or else would go on about his inventions as though he was destined to become the next Tesla!</p><p>His train of thought derailed, however, when the monitor behind him lit up and an alarm bell went off. He spun around as the view resolved to what he recognized as a real-time feed from one of the European Space Agency’s satellites, the TVi logo superimposed in one corner next to that of the ESA. The moon was visible to one side of the screen as a distant orb, with the International Space Station in the foreground near the bottom of the frame. A spacecraft – a Soyuz-MS capsule, a distant part of his brain noted – took up the majority of the screen. However, one of the capsule’s pair of solar panels appeared to have been shredded and sheared almost completely off. The propulsion module was leaking fuel at an alarming rate. At a glance, he could tell that the capsule was oriented away from the ISS and rotating at a dizzying rate.</p><p>He finally became aware of Nadja Chamack’s voice narrating the video. “–Russian Space Agency officials have refused to speculate on the chain of events that led to this tragic accident en route to the International Space Station, although they have confirmed that Paris’ own recently-ESA-certified astronaut, Claudie Kanté, is one of the three astronauts trapped on board the damaged craft.”</p><p>“… Mom…” Max gasped, jaw dropping open in shock and fear. He was so focused on the screen that he didn’t hear the sound of the lab door opening.</p><p>“Max?” He tore his gaze away from the monitor to see Sabrina standing in the doorway next to a pair of meter-wide thick metal rings, a look of concern on her face. Nooroo fluttered over to land on Max’s shoulder. “I sensed something really bad! What happened?” she asked, before looking past his head. “Is… is that your mother?” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She rushed around the table and threw her arms around him.</p><p>Numbly, Max nodded and turned back to the screen. “Based on available data, the spacecraft has suffered a catastrophic systems failure due to impact with space debris,” he explained woodenly. “Given the current trajectory, I calculate no more than a 3% chance that the craft will be recovered, and only if it is trapped in the moon’s gravitational pull and performs a successful slingshot maneuver around the moon toward Earth. And this craft does not carry sufficient supplies for such a trip.”</p><p>“What can we do for her?”</p><p>“I do not know,” replied Max, his eyes unfocused. “Adrien rejected my plan to build a spaceship for the Heroes of Paris at this time as being cost-prohibitive. I can use Voyage to get there but cannot survive in space. We have Space Power-Ups, but even that would only give me a single Voyage and five minutes to solve a problem that may take hours or even days to resolve–”</p><p>“I have an idea,” Sabrina interrupted, putting a finger over his mouth. “Transform. There’s something Marinette mentioned and Nooroo thinks I’m ready to try… Bright wings rise!”</p><p>“Kaalki, Full gallop,” Max said, without putting any energy behind it. When the light green light from his transformation had disappeared, Pegasus looked over to see Impératrice Pourpre already releasing an Akuma toward him. The Akuma attached itself to his miraculous glasses, but he didn’t feel anything different. “What did you do?” he asked, giving her a confused look.</p><p>“The Butterfly can give miraculous users extra abilities when they need them,” Impératrice Pourpre explained. “Now you can move in zero-gravity on your own power, and the Akuma will replenish your oxygen – at least for a while. The Akuma’s energy will also recharge Voyage for you so you can use it again every two or three minutes.”</p><p>“I shall give this a try,” Pegasus told her. He removed an earpiece from one end of his horseshoe and put it in his ear. Concentrating on a location near the spacecraft visible on the monitor, he shouted, “Voyage!” Before jumping through the portal, he grabbed the prototype gauntlet from his worktable and affixed it to his wrist. Turing shot through the portal after him.</p><p>“You’re out of telepathic range,” Impératrice Pourpre informed him as the portal closed behind them. “We’ll have to communicate the normal way. I’m going to call Ladybug and let her know what’s happening. If you need any help, let me know.”</p><p>“I shall do so,” he replied, glancing around to see the capsule several kilometers to his left. He grabbed Turing, willed himself forward, and shot toward the craft at over 1000 km/h. “Markov, are you there?”</p><p>“I am here, Pegasus,” Markov answered. “I have already received a schematic for the capsule from the Russian Space Agency and forwarded it to you both.”</p><p>Pegasus squinted, and a heads-up display appeared superimposed on his miraculous showing the design for the Soyuz capsule, which he scrolled through while racing to catch up to the out-of-control craft. He spun to roll over a piece of debris that had broken off of the damaged propulsion module and rocketed the length of the capsule, slowing down once he was in front of the orbital module. He released Turing, who clamped onto the capsule’s nose and began scanning it for damage. Only through sheer force of will did Pegasus not gasp on seeing his mother’s panicked face looking back at him from the window. With a gesture he moved to orient himself with the capsule, matching its spin. He grabbed onto the equipment attached to the front of the orbital module and pushed opposite its spin, slowing its rapid rotation.</p><p>“You’re doing fine,” Impératrice Pourpre cheered. “If you need help Taureau Dechaine and Multiplice can be ready to go in two minutes. Ladybug already explained the Power-Ups to them.”</p><p>“I have not ascertained the correct procedure yet,” he replied. “I will inform you if I require their assistance.”</p><p>“I can patch you into the craft’s communications system,” Turing reported.</p><p>“Do it!” Pegasus waited a beat, switched to English, and said, “I suppose you need a little help up here? What can I do?”</p><p>His mother’s voice responded, “We are sure glad to see a friendly face out there! The propulsion module was damaged in a collision with unidentified space debris, and the gyroscopic sensors are gone. One of the orientation engines is non-functional, and the damaged solar panel is unbalancing the propulsion.”</p><p>“Give me a moment, and I will attempt to rectify some of those problems,” Pegasus replied. He reduced his own velocity and allowed the craft to travel past him before grabbing onto the damaged solar panel. On close inspection he could see that the solar panel had been torn to shreds by numerous tiny impacts, and that a larger piece of debris had smashed through the strut attaching the solar panel to the module. That piece of debris, apparently, had become lodged in the body of the module near one of the gyroscopic sensors. He wouldn’t be able to reconfigure the sensors without removing the damaged solar panel.</p><p>He glanced down at the prototype gauntlet and grimaced. “Please work…” he muttered, pointing his palm at the remaining strut, adjusting the energy level, and firing. A tiny beam of white energy lanced out of the gauntlet and melted through the strut. When it was only hanging on by a millimeter, he deactivated the beam and gave the strut a single kick, breaking the panel off and knocking it away from the craft itself. Pegasus consulted the schematic displayed on his miraculous and, a minute of rewiring later, had the gyroscopic sensors functioning properly.</p><p>“I don’t know what you did,” his mother remarked, “but I have control back. Unfortunately, we are still oriented away from the station and do not have the fuel to reorient, return, and dock.”</p><p>Pegasus ran the calculations effortlessly in his head based on the craft’s velocity, the location and rotation of the ISS, and the Soyuz’s reduced capabilities. He displayed the projection on his heads-up display and sent it to Turing. “Can you confirm my calculations?”</p><p>“Confirmed.”</p><p>He concentrated on a spot just past Turing’s location. “Voyage!” The portal appeared directly in front of the craft, which drifted straight through, coming out just over a hundred kilometers away from the International Space Station. Pegasus held onto the propulsion module tightly as the orientation engines activated to place the capsule in the correct orientation to dock with the station.</p><p>“We are slightly off-center due to the inoperative engine,” his mother reported several minutes later. “Push the capsule on a 234-degree plane… now!”</p><p>Pegasus obeyed and the capsule shifted direction slightly. Once it was oriented properly, he propelled himself forward to the front of the capsule and removed Turing from the nose, as additional rockets fired to slow the craft before it reached its docking port. The docking ring on the end of the orbital module slid into the matching ring on the station, but Pegasus could see a small gap between the two rings.</p><p>“The docking ring did not seal properly,” he reported. “Stand by.” Removing the horseshoe from his back, he wedged it into the outside ring around the docking port on the capsule and levered it into proper alignment. “Try it now.”</p><p>“The seal is good,” came the reply.</p><p>While the astronauts emptied the supplies from the capsule, Pegasus propelled himself down the length of the craft. As he examined it, he found numerous instances of scoring along the outside of the orbital module, including several additional pieces of space debris that had lodged in the outer shell. A couple holes were mere centimeters from the front window</p><p>“What happened to your ship exactly?” he asked.</p><p>A different voice, this one with a Russian accent, answered. “Truthfully, we do not know. Everything was normal until it was not. We heard scraping along the front of the capsule, then we lost power from solar panel 2, everything went haywire, and we began spinning out of control.”</p><p>Pegasus nodded to himself. “It appears as though you passed through a field of space debris,” he told them. “I recommend that ground control check along your flight path, specifically where the incident occurred, and note that field to avoid it in the future. What is your intent with this capsule?”</p><p>“After all of this? Ground control has ordered us to jettison it to burn up in the atmosphere,” the same voice answered. “They will send another craft to retrieve us at the end of our mission.”</p><p>“With your permission,” Pegasus began, “may I take this craft for further examination. I will, of course, return it to RSA once my examination is completed. And I will share my findings with ESA and RSA Command.”</p><p>“You are the ones who found that alien spacecraft? What am I saying; of <em>course</em> you are.” The voice laughed jovially. “After you saved our lives, I think that is only fair.” With that, the seal connecting the capsule to the station detached. Pegasus grabbed onto it and opened another portal behind the capsule. He pushed the capsule through the portal and into the Heroes of Paris Headquarters, a meter above the ground. Once the entire capsule was through and the portal had closed, gravity took over and the capsule fell to the ground next to the alien spacecraft.</p><p>“Are you starting a collection?” Impératrice Pourpre asked, raising an eyebrow at him, as she removed the Akuma from his miraculous before hugging him. Both of them de-transformed.</p><p>“I doubt that Adrien <em>or</em> the Russian Space Agency would appreciate that,” Max replied, chuckling. “I am merely… <em>borrowing</em> this craft to analyze the damage which caused today’s failure. Based on the evidence at hand, it passed through a cloud of heretofore unidentified space debris.</p><p>“Thank you,” he added. “I would not have been successful without your assistance.”</p><p>“Of course,” Sabrina told him, smiling. “I know how important your mom is to you. What’s the point of being superheroes if we can’t help those we care about?”</p><p>“If you two are finished,” Turing announced, hovering next to the Soyuz capsule’s propulsion module, “I have completed a preliminary analysis of the debris lodged in this craft. Based on molecular composition, it is consistent with the alien craft you recovered last fall!”</p><p>“Spectacular,” Max groaned. “The bosses are going to love this.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I tried to make this as accurate as possible, but the only knowledge I have of the ESA or the Soyuz-MS spacecraft comes from Wikipedia.</p><p>The Akumatization Sabrina uses on Pegasus in this story “first” appeared in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23611723/chapters/56662759">“Running out of Time.”</a> Essentially in this universe the Butterfly Miraculous has two uses. The one we see most commonly in the show is strict Akumatization, in which a regular person receives superpowers or a miraculous user has their abilities enhanced in some way. The one shown here is where the Akuma gives a miraculous hero an additional ability necessary for the task at hand, which is not a traditional Akumatization (he’s still Pegasus; he can just propel himself and breathe in space).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. An Interrupted Picnic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>All Ivan and Mylène wanted was a quiet picnic at the Champ de Mars...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Mylène leaned back into her boyfriend’s strong arms and closed her eyes, allowing the brilliant sunlight on this late April afternoon to warm her face. They were sitting on a blanket on the far end of the Champ de Mars, having just finished their picnic lunch. “This is nice,” she murmured. “We should do this more often.”</p><p class="Preference">“Once summer break arrives, we could probably do this every day,” Ivan observed, running his hand through her hair.</p><p class="Preference">She hummed. “I would like that, but weren’t you planning to get a summer job?”</p><p class="Preference">“Yeah,” he agreed. “There is that.”</p><p class="Preference">“And there’s Kitty Section rehearsals. Luka wants to schedule your first tour in the fall, after all.”</p><p class="Preference">“Also true.”</p><p class="Preference">“And Papa invited you to come to London two weeks from now with us <em>and</em> then Périgueux later this summer.”</p><p class="Preference">“That does sound like it’ll be fun.”</p><p class="Preference">“And our patrol schedules that don’t always align.”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan was quiet for a minute. “You’re making me miss <em>school</em>, and summer break hasn’t even started yet!” He poked her sides and she squealed.</p><p class="Preference">“We’ll still find time together this summer,” he assured her, kissing her forehead. “After all, after the summer after this one we’ll going off to university, and who <em>knows</em> what the summers will be like then…”</p><p class="Preference">“More of the same, probably,” Mylène commented. “Still, better than <em>last</em> summer.”</p><p class="Preference">“You’re telling me.” He grimaced, and she felt him suppress a shudder.</p><p class="Preference">She turned to look into his eyes. “You haven’t really talked about that final Hawk Moth battle that much. Was it really that terrible?”</p><p class="Preference">“There were a couple moments that it really was,” he admitted, face falling. “Of course, most of the time I was too focused on what I was doing to really think about it. I knew I had to fight the big sentimonsters, that I had to keep the big bruisers like Gorizilla and Glaciator busy long enough for Ladybug to de-Akumatize them. I caught sight of your father once, but never even got close to him. I didn’t have much <em>chance</em> to be terrified until it was all over.”</p><p class="Preference">“I remember how badly you were shaking when you arrived at my front door after that fight.” She wrapped her arms around his chest. “I was worried about you all day; I didn’t <em>stop</em> worrying until you were back.”</p><p class="Preference">He returned the hug, enfolding her in his arms. “I’m glad you weren’t so worried you got Akumatized! I don’t think I could have taken it if I’d had to fight you.”</p><p class="Preference">“I didn’t worry about that; I knew you would have saved me – just like you did every other time.”</p><p class="Preference">“Of course,” he promised. “I’ll always keep you safe.” He laughed gently. “After all of that, I’m surprised you agreed when Marinette recruited you!”</p><p class="Preference">“Considering how giddy you were with excitement, I wasn’t about to say no,” she teased. “I–” Mylène gasped and clung to Ivan as the earth trembled beneath them. Ivan’s grip on her tightened and he shifted protectively to cover her with his arms. Mylène snuck a peek around his chest to see a figure in green and brown had just landed on the far side of the Champ de Mars, right in front of the Eiffel Tower. A crack in the ground had shot out from his location in both directions, bisecting the park and tearing apart the foundation beneath the tower. A single glance made it clear that the tower would tumble to the ground under its own weight if they didn’t do something.</p><p class="Preference">“Damn,” Ivan muttered. He chuckled ruefully. “So much for our peaceful picnic, huh?”</p><p class="Preference">“So that’s what Tyran-X looks like,” Mylène observed, eyeing the figure appraisingly. “After Marinette’s description, I wasn’t sure.” She set her jaw in determination, only to yelp in surprise as Ivan picked her up bodily, threw her over his shoulder, and ran toward the line of trees and shrubs alongside the avenue.</p><p class="Preference">He ducked behind the shrubs as Stompp and Mullo appeared out of Mylène’s purse. “I take it it’s time to play?” Stompp asked eagerly, folding his arms.</p><p class="Preference">“You could say that, buddy” Ivan agreed. “Stompp, Horns down!”</p><p class="Preference">“Mullo, Get squeaky!” The moment Multiplice had transformed, she slipped an earpiece out of her jump rope handle, and put it in her ear. She murmured, “Multitude,” and multiplied into a number of clones. The surprise and confusion of experiencing so many different perspectives simultaneously had taken some getting used to – to say nothing of adjusting to the smaller size – but she’d had plenty of practice. At a single thought, the army of Multiplice clones crawled up Taureau Dechaine’s legs and perched along his arms, shoulders, and horns. Taureau Dechaine, meanwhile, had picked up her discarded jump rope and tied one end to the handle of his cattle prod. He held the coiled jump rope and cattle prod loosely in one hand.</p><p class="Preference">“Ready, <em>mon amour</em>?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and grinning affectionately at the clone sitting on his nose. Without waiting for an answer, Taureau Dechaine took a step back, raced forward, and vaulted over the hedgerow, his legs pumping the moment he touched down to gather momentum. He lowered his head and charged, arms swinging, the army of Multiplice clones holding on tightly. Taureau Dechaine adjusted his angle, aiming to come within five meters of Tyran-X’s position. As he passed, he stomped his foot, put on a burst of speed, and shouted “Stampede!”</p><p class="Preference">In the same motion, he drew back the cattle prod and hurled it at Tyran-X as hard as he could. As he did so, Multiplice gave the command, and all her clones poured over Taureau Dechaine’s chest and arm and grabbed onto the cattle prod and jump rope. The clones held on for dear life as he released the cattle prod. Tyran-X ducked beneath the flying cattle prod, which sailed harmlessly over his head. The Multiplice clones rained down onto his back as the cattle prod passed, grabbing onto his cowl, back plates, and arms to avoid falling off. The cattle prod, meanwhile, embedded itself in the ground several meters away.</p><p class="Preference">Tyran-X had lassoed a tree, uprooted it, and was just about to launch it toward the Eiffel Tower as a <em>coup de grace</em> when two Multiplice clones landed on his lasso arm. One clone grabbed the other’s arms and threw her at Tyran-X’s hand. That clone pulled her knees in and kicked his palm as hard as she could while the other clone punched him in the elbow. The clone that kicked his palm grabbed his index finger before she could fall off of him and pulled the finger back. Tyran-X let out a howl of pain and released the lasso before she could dislocate his finger. The uprooted tree fell to the ground and became lodged in the crack he had created. Another clone jumped from his shoulder, flipped in midair, kicked him in the ear, and grabbed his stubble on the way down. She swung and kicked him in the throat before dropping to his chest, a moment before a different clone repeated the maneuver on the opposite side.</p><p class="Preference">A group of Multiplice clones who had landed on Tyran-X’s back plates simultaneously punched him alone his spine, in the spaces between his vertebrae. Another pair of clones cuffed him in both ears in sequence.</p><p class="Preference">Tyran-X howled in surprise, dancing around and swatting desperately at the numerous Multiplice clones crawling over him, punching and clawing him. He threw himself to the ground and rolled around in a vain effort to dislodge them, but the clones scurried around his sides to stand on his chest. Finally he shouted, “Di-Nado!” and swung his lasso over his head.</p><p class="Preference">Multiplice was confused at first when the wind began picking up around her clones. One clone glanced up just in time to see the funnel cloud form around Tyran-X’s body and contract together until he was lying in the center of a tornado with a width less than a half-meter wider than his own body. The clone that had looked was immediately swept away, followed by the rest of the clones. One clone managed to grab Tyran-X’s lasso as she was pulled upward. She crawled down the rope hand over hand until she reached his arm. She scurried down his arm and across his neck until she reached his face. Clutching his mask tightly, the clone punched him as hard as she could in the eye. The tornado stopped immediately.</p><p class="Preference">“Whatever you did, thanks,” Taureau Dechaine grunted over their communicators. “That tornado almost picked up the Tower!”</p><p class="Preference">“Well, it <em>did</em> pick up about twenty of me,” Multiplice retorted.</p><p class="Preference">“Are you okay?”</p><p class="Preference">She smirked. “I’m a leaf on the wind,” she replied. As she spoke, a trio of clones floated down to land on Tyran-X. With a command, the three clones split up and merged two together, with the third merging with the one already on Tyran-X, who was struggling back to his feet. As clones continued to float down, Multiplice merged them together, forming two larger clones which dropped to the ground and stood around the height of Tyran-X’s legs.</p><p class="Preference">One clone leapt and punched Tyran-X in the chest. He dropped back a step, and the clone followed up with a kick. Tyran-X, however, grabbed the clone’s leg and picked her up. She twisted in his grip as the second clone kicked him in the back of the leg. He dropped the clone he was holding and fell to one knee. The clone landed in a handstand and flipped around to land on her feet. The second clone pulled the jump rope off of Taureau Dechaine’s cattle prod and wrapped it around Tyran-X’s torso, pinning his arms. The first clone grabbed his discarded lasso and looped it around his torso, as well. The two clones pulled their ropes tight, entrapping Tyran-X between them.</p><p class="Preference">“In-Di-no!” he shouted, pushing himself up and stomping one foot. A crack in the earth shot out from where his foot landed, and a geyser of lava shot up around six meters in front of him. Tyran-X spun around, pulling the Multiplice clones off balance and off their feet. He sucked in a breath and pushed his arms out against the ropes binding them to his sides, sending one of the Multiplice clones flying toward the lava. She landed a meter in front of the geyser, stumbled once, and fell to her hands and knees at the geyser’s edge before scrambling away from it. The other clone lost her grip and flew in the opposite direction. She finally landed three meters away and tumbled head-over-heels to a stop at the edge of the Seine.</p><p class="Preference">Tyran-X raced past the clone, still wrapped up in his own lasso, and threw himself headlong into the Seine. He disappeared under the water and did not surface again within Multiplice’s sight.</p><p class="Preference">Multiplice was about to follow him when she heard a grunt from Taureau Dechaine, close at hand. She turned around to find him standing only a handful of meters away from her and trying vainly to hold the Eiffel Tower steady while an elevator brought the last group of tourists to the ground level. One foot of the tower was suspended in midair, the bottom part having been melted away by lava. Multiplice looped her jump rope around a support strut on the opposite side of the tower from the damaged leg, and the two clones together pulled the jump rope tight.</p><p class="Preference">“Miraculous Ladybug!”</p><p class="Preference">Multiplice looked up just in time to see the portal close above Ladybug, who had appeared in midair above the tower. Multiplice sighed and released her jump rope as the cloud of red magic washed over the Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars, repairing the damage from their fight. No sooner had the magic dissipated than Ladybug looped her yo-yo around the peak of the Eiffel Tower, swung around the tower twice, and landed between Taureau Dechaine and the two Multiplice clones.</p><p class="Preference">“Pound it!” Ladybug called, grinning and holding out her fist. Taureau Dechaine and the two clones put their fists in to meet Ladybug. Ladybug gave the two Multiplice clones an appraising look and commented, “I wouldn’t have thought of doing that. Nice job, <em>both</em> of you!”</p><p class="Preference">“Thanks!” Multiplice replied, merging her final two clones together. She glanced up at Taureau Dechaine. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for today,” she commented. “Shall we?”</p><p class="Preference">“Yes, we shall,” Taureau Dechaine replied, smiling down at her gently. “Let’s get back to our picnic!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Shop Therapy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nothing can go wrong when three heroes go to the mall together, right?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter takes place after <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25111669/chapters/60837565">"Chloe's Jagged Ride"</a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Kagami was in a foul mood as she shoved her books into her locker and grabbed what she would need for that night’s homework. As usual, her mother had managed to pack more into her schedule than there actually were hours in the week! On top of her other afterschool activities, Mother expected her to attend a meeting that night at her Tsurugi Group offices to discuss plans for the summer marketing push. Even the weekend was going to be overwhelmingly full: there was a fencing tournament in Lyon, and they would be leaving late the next night… after yet <em>another</em> last-minute after-school sparring session with Adrien. For as grateful as she was for the chance to spend time with a friend, she would prefer to do so <em>without</em> all the bruises. Then on Sunday afternoon they were stopping to meet with a prospective client on the way home…</p><p class="Preference">Kagami was almost looking forward to Monday when she would <em>only</em> have fencing!</p><p class="Preference">“Hey, you don’t have fencing or something right now, do you?”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami stopped turned around in confusion to find the speaker. Sabrina jogged up and leaned against the locker next to hers. “No, it’s Thursday,” Kagami replied, surprised. “No fencing today, but I do have a tutoring session. Why?”</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina put up a finger and typed a quick message on her phone. “And… done!” She put her phone away and met Kagami’s confused look. “I just told your tutor that I’m handling your ‘lesson’ for today,” she explained, giggling. “I’m thinking… ‘Economics.’”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami gave her a look. “What’s going on?”</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina looked around the locker room surreptitiously to make sure they were alone and hurriedly whispered, “Chloe’s been a little out of it all day – aftereffects of what happened over Spring Break. She’s been worlds better lately, but today’s a little off.”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami’s eyes widened fractionally in surprise before she could mask the reaction. No one was supposed to know about that… “What are you talking about?” Kagami asked innocently. “Was she sick?”</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina pursed her lips and gave her a look. She tapped a finger on Kagami’s choker before pulling her vest down slightly to reveal a lavender brooch. Kagami frowned. The brooch looked familiar… she looked up at the amused expression on Sabrina’s face and almost smacked herself in the forehead. Sabrina arched her eyebrows and asked, “So, do you want to help me drag the Queen to the mall? Because I’m positive that you <em>both</em> need a little shop therapy today!”</p>
<hr/><p>The three girls were just leaving the Agreste outlet store when a shriek rang out from across the mall. Instinctively, Kagami’s eyes scanned for the source of the noise and landed on a group of boys a year or two older them standing near the food court. One had knocked a table over in front of an elderly couple, spilling their food all over the floor.</p><p class="Preference">Kagami frowned, nonplussed. “What…?”</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina furrowed her brows and closed her eyes. “I sense… nothing from them.” Her eyes shot open, a look of disbelief on her face. “They were just <em>bored</em>!”</p><p class="Preference">“And they thought causing a scene at the <em>mall</em> would be exciting?” Kagami wondered.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe smirked and pulled a yellow yo-yo with a black border out of her purse. “Oh, I have a feeling this will be all the excitement they can handle!”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami shared a look with Sabrina, and the two girls left Chloe to duck back into the Agreste outlet. Kagami looked around carefully before pulling Sabrina behind one of the displays. She muttered the phrase and transformed. “Well?” Ryoku asked Sabrina. “Aren’t you going to help?”</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina shook her head. “If you need me I’ll be right here, but if you and ‘Sent-Bee’ can’t handle these three, you’ve got a problem!” She folded her legs and closed her eyes. “I don’t sense anyone else who might be involved, but I’ll keep checking.”</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku nodded and muttered, “Wind Dragon.” With a thought she blew out of the Agreste outlet as no more than a whisper of air and slipped around to the jewelry store on the opposite side of the food court. She rematerialized in the store entrance, the window of which had been smashed, less than five meters from Sent-Bee and the hoodlums. One of the hoodlums was already out cold lying underneath a table in the food court. Sent-Bee stood with one foot on the table, yo-yo in one hand and a yellow water pistol in the other, staring down the remaining two boys.</p><p class="Preference">“Which one of you wants to be next?” Sent-Bee called, a predatory look in her eyes. Without taking her eyes off of the other two, she shot the one under her table with a stream of yellow liquid, and he stopped squirming. “There’s plenty for both of you!”</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku smirked and tilted her head toward the two boys. Sent-Bee’s only reaction was a tiny nod. Ryoku leapt into the air, unsheathed her sword mid-jump, and brought the flat of the blade down across one boy’s back, sending him sprawling across the floor before he had a chance to react. Simultaneously, Sent-Bee shot a stream of artificial Venom at the other boy, who turned and ran for his life, narrowly avoiding the stream. Sent-Bee threw her yo-yo after him, but missed and recalled it just before it would have hit a man holding a tray of food.</p><p class="Preference">“Dammit!” Sent-Bee swore angrily, taking off in hot pursuit with Ryoku right behind her. They followed the last hoodlum up the wrong side of the escalator to the mall’s first floor. He had too much of a head start, however, and reached the top of the stairs two steps before them. He turned toward the exit and pushed a little girl behind him to keep the heroes from following him. The girl, however, lost her balance. With a cry of terror, she fell over the railing.</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku watched her fall as if in slow motion. She look of fear in the girl’s eyes, the panicked mother behind her, reaching out too late to save her. Sent-Bee was about to try catching her with her yo-yo when Ryoku dove over the escalator handrail, grabbed the girl’s arm, pulled her in close, and hugged her to her chest. She only had a second before impact, and twisted around to strike the floor on her back, cushioning the girl with her own body. All the air was forced from her lungs, and she released the girl, who rolled off of her to the floor. Ryoku started to close her eyes.</p><p class="Preference">“Ry–Ryoku?” a soft voice was whispering next to her head. “Ryoku!?!”</p><p class="Preference">She forced her eyes open and saw the little girl she’d saved, kneeling next to her head with her hands on Ryoku’s shoulder, a look of panic in her eyes. The girl’s mother slid to the floor next to her on her knees, the look in her face a mix of relief, gratitude, and concern. A crowd was starting to gather around them.</p><p class="Preference">“Give her some space!” a familiar voice called. Sabrina pushed her way through the crowd and crouched on Ryoku’s other side. The crowd took a step back to make room. Sabrina put a hand on Ryoku’s cheek. “Just breathe in slowly with me,” she instructed as gently as she could, breathing in herself to demonstrate.</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe in time with Sabrina. After a couple of breaths, it didn’t feel like such a struggle to inhale anymore, and she allowed Sabrina to help her up to a sitting position. “I’m alright now,” Ryoku finally said, giving the little girl she’d saved an encouraging smile.</p><p class="Preference">“Thank you!” the girl cried, throwing her arms around Ryoku’s neck. Ryoku patted her back hesitantly before the girl’s mother pulled her away.</p><p class="Preference">“This should help a little bit,” Sent-Bee called, walking down the stairs. Looking behind her, Ryoku realized that she was dragging the third hoodlum behind her, hogtied in her yo-yo. He was holding his head up and glaring at her angrily, but wincing as his shoulders hit every step they descended. Sent-Bee deposited him in the food court next to his companions, shot him and his last companion with her synthetic Venom, disentangled him from her yo-yo, and ran her thumb across the yo-yo’s finger loop to rewind the string.</p><p class="Preference">Sabrina helped Ryoku to her feet and they made their way over to where Sent-Bee was giving a statement to the mall security officer, alongside the couple that had initially been assaulted. Ryoku gave them her own statement, and then walked off slowly to de-transform outside. Presently, Sabrina and Chloe met her by the mall exit.</p><p class="Preference">“You know,” Kagami commented wryly as the other two wrapped an arm around her and they slowly made their way to where Chloe’s driver was waiting for them, “all things considered that was actually a pretty fun trip!”</p><p class="Preference">“I agree!” Chloe smirked. “That really helped: I think I just needed a chance to <em>punch</em> someone!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you forgot from “Purity and Corruption,” Max is Kagami’s tutor/“alibi.”</p><p>If it’s not clear, Chloe isn’t Akumatized into Sent-Bee during this story; Sabrina won’t do that unless there’s a serious emergency now. Like Jagged Stone with “Guitar Hero,” Chloe is using her Akuma hero name (though not exactly the appearance) to be a regular hero, using some tech-based equipment designed by Max (in case you didn’t realize, the prototypes were on his lab table at the end of “Chloe’s Jagged Ride”). “Queen Bee” has a miraculous; “Sent-Bee” does not.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Ambush!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Acolytes of the Mundane, Part 1 of 2</p><p>The Heroes are in trouble, and Ladybug can only turn to one person for help.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the first of a Two-Part follow-up to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245559/chapters/61198363">“Ladybug’s Gambit.”</a>  The main character for it was first introduced in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475210/chapters/59072257">“A Miraculous Adventure in America.”</a></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Pedro sat in the middle of his room in the lotus position with his eyes closed, and forced his breathing to slow. Reaching down inside of himself, he felt for the well of chi that he had been taught lay within every living creature. Chi could be used to heal oneself or others; it could also be used to strengthen oneself in a fight. With his chi, a Dark Acolyte could counter a miraculous abuser’s abilities, could hide himself, could even immobilize the miraculous abuser. Chi was a natural part of the universe, something he could always rely on.</p><p class="Preference">So why couldn’t he find his chi anymore?</p><p class="Preference">He opened his eyes and stared at the smooth stone resting in his palm. He had found it by the Seine on one of the few occasions that his “hosts” – his eyes flickered to the robot hovering in one corner of the room – had brought him down there. He focused his attention on the stone like a laser, willing it to glow, but it remained smooth and cool, just as it had since the day he found it – just as every stone had, ever since he came to Paris. The last time he had truly felt his chi had been the morning before his capture, when his mission and purpose had seemed so absolutely certain in his mind. And then in the space of two days, all of that had changed. The miraculous “abusers” saved his life. The Dark Acolytes themselves used a miraculous in battle – and he himself killed one of his fellow acolytes. Now he was a pariah from the group that had raised him from childhood. But even if that were not the case he could never return to Dark Acolytes of the Mundane and the life he had known – not knowing that they now consorted with miraculous users. They were hypocrites! And yet, considering his own circumstances, how could he judge them?</p><p class="Preference">Was he also a hypocrite like them?</p><p class="Preference">Pedro nearly dropped his stone when his bedroom door slammed open and a not-even-two-year-old bounded into the room. “¡Hola!” he shouted, giggling and swinging his arms wildly. “Avez Mommy? Lise dice bedtime, but not fatigué.” He folded his arms and pouted. Suddenly seeing the stone in Pedro’s hand his eyes lit up. He darted forward, grabbed the stone before Pedro could react, and started waving it in the air.</p><p class="Preference">Pedro dove forward and grabbed the stone out of the boy’s hand – Marco, he remembered. The Wolf woman’s child. Marco started to wail, whereupon a mint-and-yellow Kwami with translucent wings phased through the side wall and started buzzing noisily. Marco looked up at the Kwami and clapped his hands happily, Pedro’s stone entirely forgotten.</p><p class="Preference">The Kwami dropped down to hover in front of Marco, booped him on the nose, and squeaked, “Found you!”</p><p class="Preference">“Merci, Russa,” a voice called from the doorway. Lise, the young American miraculous user, stepped into the room and swept Marco up into her arms. Marco wrapped his arms around her neck and started babbling in an excited mix of Spanish and English, with the occasional French word thrown in for good measure. Lise whispered something into his ear and squeezed his sides, and he started giggling.</p><p class="Preference">“How can you understand him?” Pedro wondered, shaking his head in amazement.</p><p class="Preference">Lise smirked. “Most of the time I just guess,” she told him in English. Russa, the Kwami, settled on Marco’s shoulder, and Marco grabbed one of her wings and started chewing on it. Lise sighed and made a move toward the door.</p><p class="Preference">Pedro had spent so much time alone with his own thoughts since arriving in Paris… “I thought his mother was in charge of bedtime,” Pedro commented abruptly.</p><p class="Preference">“Normally she is,” Lise agreed with a nod, “but one of the other heroes was busy tonight so Julia volunteered to go on patrol for her.” She shrugged. “I do not mind. Though I doubt the bathroom floor is ever going to be dry again…” she added with a shudder. She looked down at him an unreadable expression on her face, one hand on the doorframe.</p><p class="Preference">Pedro frowned. “You don’t like me that much, do you?” Her silence was all the answer he needed. “Do you blame me for your teammates’ deaths?”</p><p class="Preference">She shrugged and adjusted Marco on her hip. “You did not actually kill Al-Packa or Man-Bear,” she replied evasively. “So there is that. But you were there. It was your people who did it. And now we are fighting some of your friends here in Paris.”</p><p class="Preference">He nodded in acknowledgement of her words. Still… “They’re not my friends,” he told her. “They haven’t been for a while.”</p><p class="Preference">“They were at the time,” she reminded him, though without any trace of bitterness in her voice. She looked down at his hand. “What is the stone for?”</p><p class="Preference">“I am attempting to focus my chi into it,” he explained, closing his eyes and furrowing his brow in concentration. His chi still eluded him. At last he opened his eyes to find her still watching him curiously. “All new Initiates to the Dark Acolytes of the Mundane learn how to focus their chi – that is the secret behind everything we do. You experienced just one example of that in the force field you found your first day here. Our chi gives us other abilities, as well. But in order to turn one’s chi outward in a creative manner, we must first be able to focus our chi on a single point.” He held the stone up to show her. “That’s where the stone comes in.” He closed his eyes again. Gradually his breathing slowed to be almost imperceptible. His pulse dropped, and he felt the pool of chi in front of him, blue and cool and refreshing. He was reaching out for it, but it was still just out of reach, as though on the far side of a vast canyon.</p><p class="Preference">“Is something supposed to be happening?” Lise asked abruptly, breaking his concentration. “Because that stone still looks exactly the same as it did ten seconds ago.”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro opened his eyes and glared at her.</p><p class="Preference">She grinned. “Just saying…”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro shook his head in annoyance and started to close his eyes again. However, at that moment they heard loud shouting coming from the direction of the Mansion’s entryway. Pedro’s eyes shot wide open and he looked up at Lise, who had jumped and spun around at the noise. Marco started crying in surprise and fear.</p><p class="Preference">“Russa, Wings out!” Lise shouted, and Pedro had to shield his eyes from the brilliant mint light of her transformation. He pocketed his stone, sprang to his feet, and followed Ayilon into the hallway, grabbing his quarterstaff from the corner nearest the door on the way out. A propeller whirred behind them as the robot followed them from the room.</p><p class="Preference">“What’s happening?” Pedro asked the robot.</p><p class="Preference">The robot let out a long beep. “There has been an attack. The Heroes on patrol tonight were ambushed.” It was silent for a moment. “They report that it is the Prior.”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro heard the hitch in Ayilon’s breathing. The Wolf – Julia – was on patrol tonight. Marco’s mother. Did he understand what was happening?</p><p class="Preference">Pedro raced down the labyrinthine hallways to the Mansion entrance, following the sound of the raised voices. Ayilon kept pace beside him, Marco bawling in her arms. As they turned the last corner, they found Adrien, Marinette, and Pegasus all huddled together at the top of the stairs, arguing back and forth in hurried French. “Can you translate for me, robot?” he asked, glancing up at it in confusion.</p><p class="Preference">“I have a name, you know,” it responded. “Turing.” He ejected an earpiece from a compartment at the bottom of his body. Pedro placed it in his ear and listened to the robotic voice translate.</p><p class="Preference">“We need to rescue them,” Marinette shouted, throwing her hands out and almost hitting Adrien in the head. He ducked, caught her hand, and put an arm around her shoulders.</p><p class="Preference">“I do not need to tell you how obvious a trap this is,” Pegasus pointed out. The second robot hovering next to his head projected a hologram of two bluish figures in the middle of a deserted street. One figure was struggling to remove something from its legs while swinging a club wildly. The other was eerily still, caught mid-stride. A third figure holding the all-too-familiar traditional quarterstaff paced around them. “If you go, I calculate a near-certainly that he will have an ambush arranged for you.”</p><p class="Preference">“We can’t do nothing!” Marinette retorted, throwing her arms down emphatically. “Whatever he throws at us, Adrien and I can handle it.” Adrien nodded in agreement.</p><p class="Preference">“You <em>cannot</em> handle <em>literally</em> <em>anything</em> the Prior throws at you!” argued Pegasus. “I have tested all of the Dark Acolyte weapons that we have recovered. They are specially constructed to affect miraculous holders, regardless of whether they are transformed or not. If you have an active miraculous, you <em>will</em> be affected by them! The only way for you to go is if you renounce your miraculous first, and that could give your identity to Lynchpin!”</p><p class="Preference">“We can’t just sit here!” Marinette folded her arms and glared. “What about other options? We have teammates without miraculous.”</p><p class="Preference">“None are close enough. To send any of them would require the use of a second portal.”</p><p class="Preference">“Chloe and Alix?”</p><p class="Preference">“Both at home on the opposite side of Paris.”</p><p class="Preference">“Anansi?”</p><p class="Preference">“Tournament.”</p><p class="Preference">“The Owl?”</p><p class="Preference">“Board of Governors meeting.”</p><p class="Preference">“What about–”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro tuned out the rest of the conversation. Two miraculous users ambushed: their miraculous could fall into the hands of the Prior. He remembered Judá from his training at the temple. Judá had been one of his earliest teachers, a newly-promoted Acolyte who was already an expert at chi manipulation. He had been the strongest proponent of the need to prevent the abuse of miraculous in all its forms. And now he had thrown in his lot with this Lynchpin and his team of miraculous abusers. He had heard enough stories from the Dove woman on the few occasions they were at the dinner table together: her nemesis the Night Bat was a worse miraculous abuser than any that the Dark Acolytes of the Mundane could have envisioned. If he got his hands on these two miraculous – the Wolf especially – who knows what he and his minions would do with their power? Certainly they would imbalance the world far more than Ladybug and her team.</p><p class="Preference">“Send me,” he announced. He looked up to find Marinette, Adrien, Pegasus, <em>and</em> Ayilon all staring at him in shock. Even Marco was strangely silent. “Send me,” he repeated. “You don’t have time to waste. I understand the Prior in a way none of you do. Nothing he has can affect me as it would affect you. I can rescue your friends.”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette and Adrien looked closely at him, brows furrowed suspiciously.</p><p class="Preference">“I want to prevent the abuse of miraculous,” he told them, willing them to listen. “Right now, that means keeping any more miraculous from falling into the hands of your Lynchpin.”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette and Adrien shared a look before they both nodded to him curtly. Pegasus stepped forward, punched his hand out between himself and Pedro, and shouted, “Voyage!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The earpiece Pedro uses isn’t a translator or anything; it allows Turing to translate the dialogue for him in real time. Turing can only translate French, Spanish, and English at the moment, and it only works when he’s actually hearing the conversation. As of now there are no “universal translators” (magic, technological, or otherwise) in this universe.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Heretic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Pedro must confront his past to help the Heroes</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Without hesitating, Pedro jumped through the portal and found himself in an alleyway just down the street from where the heroes were trapped. The portal closed behind him, and he cautiously walked to the end of the alley and looked out to see Lupa Gris and the hero they called King Monkey in the middle of the largely-deserted street. Pedro could see a glob of chi-putty on King Monkey’s shoulder. He obviously was straining against it, but could do no more than twitch his eyebrow. Lupa Gris, meanwhile, was still on her feet next to King Monkey, hunched over and trying to remove the bolas looped around her legs with one hand while fending off the Prior with her war-club in the other hand. The fingertips of her miraculous glove smoked from contact with the bolas wire.</p><p class="Preference">The Prior stalked around his victims, staying just out of reach of Lupa Gris’ war club. He darted in close, she swung the club at him, and he jumped out of the way. The move pulled her off balance, however, and she fell to the ground, losing her grip on the war club in the process. The weapon skidded across the street and out of her reach. The Prior was on top of her in an instant, hands reaching for her earrings, but she pulled her feet together and kicked him off as hard as she could. He stumbled once and caught himself before, with a shrug, he turned to King Monkey, reaching for the gold circlet on his forehead. King Monkey glared at him but could do no more.</p><p class="Preference">So intent was the Prior on the miraculous users in front of him that he didn’t notice Pedro sprinting down the street. The Prior’s fingers were just closing around the circlet when Pedro jumped and kicked him away.</p><p class="Preference">The Prior spun with the kick and twisted his body midair to face his attacker, throwing a set of bolas at his attacker’s feet before he had even landed. Pedro slammed the end of his quarterstaff into the ground and caught the bolas around it. When the Prior landed and saw Pedro, his eyes shot wide open in shock. “Heretic!”</p><p class="Preference">“¡Liberanos!” Lupa Gris shouted, trying to push herself to her feet. [Free us!]</p><p class="Preference">Pedro didn’t have time to rescue the heroes, however. He charged the Prior, his quarterstaff gripped tightly in both hands. “Perhaps I am a heretic to you,” he retorted, bringing the staff down on the Prior’s head. “But you are a traitor to <em>everything</em> you ever taught me!”</p><p class="Preference">The Prior parried the blow and pushed back, aiming a strike at Pedro’s chest. “<em>I</em> am the traitor!?! Rich words coming from the likes of you!”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro’s eyes lit up with fury. “You turned traitor on our ideals the moment you threw your lot in with this Lynchpin!” He dodged the strike and counterattacked, sweeping his staff one-handed across the ground at the Prior’s feet. “He consorts with miraculous abusers!”</p><p class="Preference">The Prior easily jumped over the sweep. “What were we supposed to do? Do you have any idea the position we were placed in?” he retorted. “Our Abbot had just been <em>killed</em> by a miraculous abuser!” He swung his staff at Pedro’s head. Pedro raised his own staff two-handed to block it. “And as if that wasn’t enough, <em>you</em> murdered our Second immediately thereafter!” He redirected the staff under Pedro’s block, aiming for his side.</p><p class="Preference">“I slew a man abusing a miraculous!” Pedro shouted, jumping back out of range and swinging his staff out with one hand to parry. “I did no more or less than what the Dark Acolytes trained me to do! What <em>you</em> trained me to do! ‘All use of miraculous is <em>ab</em>use,’ isn’t that correct?”</p><p class="Preference">“Of course that is correct!”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro planted his staff, vaulted forward, and aimed a kick at the Prior’s chest in midair. The Prior blocked the kick with one hand, and Pedro followed it up with a second kick on the way down. “We swore that we would never use miraculous!” Pedro jabbed the Prior in the face with a punch that he blocked, while simultaneously blocking the Prior’s counterstrike with his staff. “‘We serve the balance!’ ‘Miraculous violate balance!’ Any of that ringing any bells?” he demanded fiercely.</p><p class="Preference">“We would never have been forced to resort to such an abomination if we had not been attacked by miraculous abusers!” the Prior shouted. “Miraculous abusers that <em>you</em> led right to our doorstep!”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro recognized the signs. The Prior’s eyes took on a familiar glint. A thrum started from his stomach and moved down his leg into his foot. He sensed the strike coming, even as the Prior planted one foot and kicked, yet Pedro still could not move quickly enough to evade. The chi-infused kick caught him in the chest and sent him crashing across the street to land on his back. He rolled backward through the landing, pushed himself up with his quarterstaff, and shook the cobwebs from his head. The Prior was on top of him before he could take another breath.</p><p class="Preference">“You turned on us!” the Prior screamed, swinging his staff wildly at Pedro’s head. “Heretic!”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro ducked the swing and punched him in the side, right below his ribs. “I did no such thing!” he shouted back, jumping out of range of the Prior’s kick and striking him across the back with his staff as the Prior spun through the kick. “They found us by themselves! I was obeying my orders and tailing them until I was captured! I was their <em>prisoner</em>, not their <em>guide</em>! I was <em>loyal</em>! And then <em>you</em> betrayed <em>everything</em> you ever taught me!”</p><p class="Preference">“And since then?” the Prior retorted, glaring at him fiercely. “Are you claiming <em>not</em> to have thrown in your lot with these miraculous users, these so-called ‘Heroes of Paris’?” He threw his staff to the ground and raced at Pedro, throwing punches at lightning speed.</p><p class="Preference">Pedro found himself being pushed back under the ferocious onslaught. One of the Prior’s blows landed on his ribs, and he grunted at the pain. Cradling his chest, he dropped to one knee.</p><p class="Preference">“You are out of practice,” the Prior observed, standing over him. “Your chi is imbalanced.”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro glared up at him. “You accuse me of allying with miraculous users,” he ground out. “And yet, you have done exactly the same thing. In that sense, perhaps we are not unalike.” He pushed himself to his feet. “However, I have learned something from this ordeal. Maybe <em>you</em> will call it ‘heresy,’ but <em>I</em> call it truth: it is possible to <em>ab</em>use a miraculous – and that means there is also such a thing as the <em>proper</em> use of a miraculous. I <em>do</em> still serve the balance. I <em>do</em> still stand against those who would abuse a miraculous for their own ends. I <em>am</em> still true to my Acolyte vows.” He took a step forward, tightened his grip on his staff, and reached down into himself for the well of chi waiting just below the surface. “One of us has allied with miraculous abusers,” Pedro announced, “but it is not me.” His chi leapt to the surface and he directed it into his foot. He spun around and roundhouse kicked the Prior in the face.</p><p class="Preference">Before the Prior react, Pedro reached into his sleeve, withdrew his last smoke bomb from its hidden pocket, and threw it to the ground. The smoke bomb burst, and he raced away from the smoke to where the heroes were still immobilized. “Now!” he shouted, trusting that the device in his ear was still working and that someone was paying attention.</p><p class="Preference">A portal opened directly behind Lupa Gris and King Monkey. Pedro pulled the chi-putty off of King Monkey’s shoulder and simultaneously shoved him through the portal. Without stopping he stooped down next to Lupa Gris, unwrapped the bolas around her ankles, and pulled her to her feet. The smoke was starting to dissipate, and Pedro could see the Prior’s outline through it, waving it away and stumbling through it to find them. He pushed Lupa Gris through the portal after King Monkey and jumped through on her heels, moments before the portal shut.</p><p class="Preference">Pedro blinked against the sterile lighting in Pegasus’ lab. He had spent many hours here with Pegasus in the week since the Heroes first experienced the Dark Acolytes’ tools, helping Pegasus in his experiments with understanding and countering their techniques and equipment. The two robots held out a plastic container, and Pedro dropped the chi-putty and bolas into it alongside others the Heroes had collected in their encounters with the Dark Acolytes. Looking around the room, Adrien and Marinette were holding King Monkey upright, and Ayilon was supporting Lupa Gris. Marco had already thrown his arms around Lupa Gris’ neck, and she was hugging him tightly.</p><p class="Preference">“Gracias,” Lupa Gris whispered over Marco’s head, catching Pedro’s eye. [Thank you]</p><p class="Preference">“De nada,” he muttered back, awkwardly. [You’re welcome]</p><p class="Preference">King Monkey clapped Pedro’s shoulder, grinned, and said, “For an anti-miraculous nut, you’re all right!”</p><p class="Preference">Pedro nodded and hesitantly returned his grin.</p><p class="Preference">Pegasus beckoned King Monkey over to the lab tabled and told him, “I wish to test the effect of your Uproar on these devices.”</p><p class="Preference">“You want to put that stuff on me <em>again</em>!?!”</p><p class="Preference">“What if I dare you to do it?” Pegasus asked, smirking. “If you do this, I will explain to you why I calculate a 99.8% chance of you taking any dare you are given!”</p><p class="Preference">King Monkey furrowed his brow and started at Pegasus for a long minute. His jaw dropped. “No way…”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette walked over to Pedro, Adrien at her side, and drew his attention. “We owe you a great deal for this,” she told him, clasping his hand. “Thank you for helping us tonight.”</p><p class="Preference">“You are welcome,” he replied solemnly. “I’m happy to be of service.” He chuckled. “<em>I</em> should actually be thanking <em>you</em>, I think. I realize now what the true task of the Acolytes of the Mundane should be,” he explained to her. “It’s not to prevent <em>all</em> use of miraculous, but merely the <em>ab</em>use of them. I suppose that’s what it always should have been: after all, the oldest Acolyte teachings caution against ‘<em>ab</em>use,’ not ‘use.’ You told me about that distinction once,” he added, catching Adrien’s eye. Pedro turned back to Marinette and shrugged. “For now, this means that I must help you and your team to take the miraculous out of the hands of your enemies who would abuse the miraculous for their own ends, and place them back into the hands of those who will use them to preserve the balance of the universe. If that makes me a Heretic in the eyes of the Prior and the other Dark Acolytes, I will embrace that title.”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that.”</p><p class="Preference">He pulled the stone from his pocket and held it up. “However,” he cautioned her, “If you or your friends should ever <em>abuse</em> your miraculous…” He closed his eyes, found his chi, and focused it. Opening his eyes, he saw that the stone was glowing a dim white.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette looked at the stone, then up into his eyes with an unreadable expression. At length she gave Turing a look, and he flew off to the corner where Pegasus was working. Marinette nodded to Pedro and said, “I can accept that.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Gala</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kagami listens to Kitty Section at the Agreste Gala and thinks she recognizes Luka's newest song</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the Gala mentioned in “A Miraculous Adventure in America” and “Girls’ Day Out”</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Kagami snuck a glance around the Gala, only paying superficial attention to the former child actor in front of her. Marinette had certainly gone all-out on the decorations for this party – and knowing Marinette, she had probably designed the whole thing and put up most of them herself. The entryway of the Agreste Mansion had been cleared of most of the furniture, creating an open space for people to gather. Marinette had taken down a couple of the old tapestries and replaced them with new ones. The pictures of their friends had been traded out for photos of various Agreste clothing throughout the years, though she noticed that the entire “Gabriel” line was conspicuously absent. No trace of Adrien’s anime obsession was visible – not even the Himura Kenshin statue next to the office door that Marinette was always complaining about.</p><p class="Preference">“–I am very excited about this opportunity!” Pierre enthused. “This reunion mini-series could be just the thing to re-launch my career!”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami smiled thinly and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she returned her attention to the man in front of her. Before the Gala, her mother had insisted that she research Pierre Chevalier to recruit him as the spokesman for an upcoming product launch that the Tsurugi Group was overseeing. Unfortunately, that had meant watching a half-dozen episodes of <em>Je suis Marcel</em> (she couldn’t stomach any more than that), as well as his handful of later roles – and his acting hadn’t improved a bit in the 15 years between the one and the other! But the product was a new wristwatch/smartphone hybrid, and Pierre always played the nerd type, so Pierre it had to be, at least according to her mother. “This sounds like a marvelous opportunity for you!” Kagami assured him with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, unconsciously rubbing her <em>own</em> next-generation watch. “And with the added exposure of an advertising campaign getting you onto every screen in every home, you may have studios breaking down your door!”</p><p class="Preference">“I sure hope you’re right, Kagami.” He frowned slightly as he studied his glass. “Maybe your company’s proposal has some merit after all.” His eyes lit up and he grinned. “Watch for me at Cannes in a couple years, my dear!”</p><p class="Preference">She watched him walk off to visit with one of the models mingling with the crowd before rolling her eyes. <em>The only way he’s going to be at Cannes is if he’s </em>working<em> there…</em> As if she could hear Kagami’s thoughts, her mother, who had been in the middle of an intense conversation with Clara Nightingale near the door to the dining room, frowned in her direction right before she stepped through the doorway to refill her plate from the buffet. Kagami stiffened subconsciously, but she let out a quiet breath once her mother disappeared into the dining room.</p><p class="Preference">“You know, I warned her that pattern might distort if she put it on the décolletage, but it fits your form quite well,” a voice commented beside Kagami.</p><p class="Preference">She turned to see a woman around her mother’s age with streaks of grey in her dark hair. She was examining Kagami’s kimono appraisingly, one finger on her chin. She looked vaguely familiar, but Kagami couldn’t quite place from where. “I’m sorry?”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, manners!” the woman chuckled. She held out a hand. “Jeanne Legrand. Marinette works with me at Agreste. And you must be Kagami. She’s mentioned you several times as one of the friends she designed pieces for.”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami nodded in recognition and shook the offered hand with a smile. “So <em>you</em>’re the one who’s been teaching Marinette! She talks about you quite a bit and how much she has been learning from you, though we’ve only ever met in her room to talk about commissions.”</p><p class="Preference">Mme Legrand shrugged. “I suppose the refreshments are a little fresher there. Of course, if and when you find yourself in the Agreste offices, you are always welcome to stop by. Marinette has said you have a good eye for fashion trends in the Asian market, and especially colors. As a matter of fact, this summer we are looking into launching a new Asia-exclusive line.”</p><p class="Preference">“I may take you up on that!” Kagami agreed, grinning happily. She caught Marinette and Mylène looking in her direction from the area close to where Kitty Section was performing in the far corner of the room. Marinette beckoned her over, and Kagami didn’t hesitate. “It’s nice to meet you,” she told Mme Legrand, “but the girl herself must have known we were talking about her! If you will excuse me?”</p><p class="Preference">Mme Legrand patted her on the shoulder and smiled. “I hope you enjoy the party!” she told her before drifting away toward a group that looked like Agreste employees.</p><p class="Preference">Kagami navigated across the room, around little clusters of guests, to where Marinette and Mylène were standing to the side of the large amplifiers.</p><p class="Preference">“Having fun?” Marinette asked, with a meaningful look at Pierre, who was hovering near the drink tray.</p><p class="Preference">“I… am,” Kagami assured her, though with some reluctance. She leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “I do wish Mother had decided <em>not</em> to come this evening…” At a normal volume she explained, “Meeting people is enjoyable, but I’m not <em>just</em> here for that – or at least according to Mother I’m not. ‘You represent the company and so you must work to make a good impression on any potential new clients!’” she mocked, frowning.</p><p class="Preference">“Kind of hard to get out of her shadow, isn’t it?” Marinette observed sympathetically.</p><p class="Preference">“And now she already has a summer internship lined up for me with one of our clients …”</p><p class="Preference">“Interesting…” Marinette said thoughtfully. Kagami noticed something tugging at the corner of Marinette’s mouth. “That will make for a busy summer.”</p><p class="Preference">“I know what you mean,” Mylène commented with a frown. “Between the band, summer jobs, and everything else, Ivan and I will hardly have a moment to ourselves this summer. And on top of that, Papa asked me to help with his summer drama camp! With everything else going on, I haven’t had any time to help him promote it.”</p><p class="Preference">“You need help with marketing?” Kagami asked, surprised. “My mother would literally murder me if I don’t offer my services as a consultant!”</p><p class="Preference">Mylène nodded slowly. “I will ask Papa if it’s in his budget.”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami grinned. “Mother says I need ‘experience,’ so the ‘fee’ is ‘minimal,’” she explained with air-quotes. Marinette giggled into her hand.</p><p class="Preference">The last notes of the song died out, and the three girls applauded before Luka took the microphone from Rose and announced, “Our last song is dedicated to a special friend of mine.” The rest of the band put their instruments down and stepped back, leaving him as the center of attention. He started picking out a melody, and Kagami’s jaw almost dropped.</p><p class="Preference">“I… I think I recognize that melody,” Kagami whispered to Marinette, furrowing her brow.</p><p class="Preference">“Oh? From where?”</p><p class="Preference">“A… friend… played it weeks ago and said it was mine. I wonder where Luka got it from.”</p><p class="Preference">“Huh.” Marinette eyed her appraisingly. “Well, Luka isn’t one to steal another musician’s song – he hardly needs to. He has a gift for reading people with his music.”</p><p class="Preference">“My friend has told me the same thing,” Kagami replied with a frown.</p><p class="Preference">“Perhaps you should ask him about it,” Marinette suggested, smirking, as the last notes of the song ended. Everyone applauded, cutting off Kagami’s response.</p><p class="Preference">The band members left their instruments set up and worked their way out of the stage area as Nino turned on a playlist to provide background music. The girls walked over and met them just as they were stepping away from the instruments. “You all sounded amazing!” Marinette told them, Kagami and Mylène nodding their agreement.</p><p class="Preference">“Thanks!” Adrien replied with a smile, linking arms with Marinette. He turned to the others. “I suppose if I’m supposed to be the host of this thing I should actually talk to some people,” he announced, putting on a smile Kagami recognized as his “model smile” and walking off into the crowd with Marinette.</p><p class="Preference">Ivan hugged Mylène, looked at Luka, and asked, “I think we earned a trip to the buffet line, don’t you think?”</p><p class="Preference">“I would say so,” Luka agreed with a nod, as Ivan and Mylène disappeared toward the dining room.</p><p class="Preference">“My throat’s really dry now,” Rose commented. “I could really use some water. Jules?” And the two of them followed Ivan and Mylène.</p><p class="Preference">Suddenly alone together beside the band equipment, Kagami looked up at Luka. “You played very well tonight,” she told him, giving a small smile. “I don’t think I remember hearing you rehearse that last song, though.”</p><p class="Preference">“I don’t think you did,” Luka agreed. “The others hadn’t heard it before today, either. In fact, I only just finished writing it last week; the inspiration came during your Spring Break.”</p><p class="Preference">“What inspired it?” she asked curiously.</p><p class="Preference">“A friend,” he answered. He shrugged self-consciously. “She’s lonely, but she hides it with a lot of snark. I can hear people’s hearts. That’s what I heard from her.”</p><p class="Preference">Kagami hummed. “The melody was beautiful, but it sounded familiar.”</p><p class="Preference">He laughed. “The song in your heart sounds very similar to hers; maybe that’s it.”</p><p class="Preference">“So what does the song in <em>my</em> heart sound like, then?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p class="Preference">He furrowed his brow in contemplation, grabbed his guitar off its stand, and picked a few notes. The melody he played sounded similar to the one Viperion had played for her, but missing something… or adding something new. She listened quietly. “That sounds beautiful, though not as much as the other one.”</p><p class="Preference">He gave her a funny look. “The two do sound very close, don’t they?” He frowned. “It sounds to me like you are lonelier, like you feel far more outside pressure than she does.”</p><p class="Preference">She gave him a look of concern. “It is seriously disconcerting that you can do that.”</p><p class="Preference">He smiled. “You’re not the first to tell me that,” he admitted. He glanced down at her kimono. “A ‘Marinette’ original?” he asked. She nodded. “It’s very nice. The colors go very well with your necklace. But that pattern looks familiar for some reason…” He gestured vaguely to the pattern on her décolletage, a yellow-blue-white swirl set within a red ring.</p><p class="Preference">Kagami allowed herself a small smirk. She knew exactly what he meant: Marinette enjoyed working the Dragon Miraculous emblem into everything she designed for Kagami in subtle ways. She had been concerned that it could be too obvious, but Marinette had assured her no one would make the connection unless they really knew to look. It was the same principle she used in designing her tapestries. The Dragon symbol on the official “Ryoku” shirts was far more obvious (part of the reason Kagami avoided wearing her <em>own</em> shirts!); the obviousness of the one masked the subtlety of the other. “Perhaps you noticed it on another of Marinette’s designs,” she suggested, grinning mischievously. “She’s used it before.”</p><p class="Preference">“That might be it.” He gave her a suspicious look but didn’t say anything more. He cocked his head to listen to the song that had just started playing and smiled at her. “Would you care to dance?” he asked, holding out a hand.</p><p class="Preference">Kagami could feel her mother’s attention on her from across the room. She was not here to dance with a boy or to hang out with friends. And yet, the look in Luka’s eyes eased her fear of her mother’s disapproval with his calm acceptance. She smiled. “My mother would probably call this a ‘wasted opportunity,’” she observed, eyes darting across the room to her mother’s sunglasses. “However…” She pretended to think for a minute before taking his hand and putting her other hand on his waist. “I think we can make it work. Is Kitty Section looking for help with marketing?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The continuation of Luka and Kagami's story comes in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515076/chapters/61903468">"The Heart of the Storm."</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Portobello Road</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ivan and Mylène make an unusual discovery on Portobello Road</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is taking place in London, but all of the dialogue (except the 1 time they talk to a local) is taking place in French. I realized in writing this story that I’ve worked in a lot of movie references throughout my universe. Can anyone guess the movie that inspired the setting for this one-shot?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Ivan squeezed Mylène’s hand gently as they walked down the street, observing all of the vendors’ tables. The sun was shining, the crowds around them were full of happiness, and even the London smog didn’t seem as bad as normal. Considering how busy their lives had become, Ivan was simply grateful for the opportunity of a quiet afternoon spent with his girlfriend. “It was nice of your dad to invite me along,” he told her, smiling gently.</p><p class="Preference">“You know he’s absolutely enamored with you,” she replied, putting her other hand on his arm and hugging it.</p><p class="Preference">“When we first started dating, I thought he was going to have a heart attack!” Ivan joked.</p><p class="Preference">“Well, he <em>was</em> kind of looking forward to the chance to intimidate my first boyfriend,” she reminded him. “I don’t think he expected one who could bench press <em>him</em>!”</p><p class="Preference">He grinned sheepishly. That had really just been a dare from Kim that went wrong, but still… With that as his first interaction with Mylène’s father, Ivan was relieved that M. Haprèle hadn’t forbidden him to ever see his daughter again! “Are you sure he won’t mind us leaving the competition for a couple of hours to walk around?” he asked.</p><p class="Preference">“He’s not going to perform until tomorrow, so it’s not a big deal,” she replied, stopping at a stall with bolts of cloth in every color. “Do you think Marinette would like a couple of these?”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan shrugged noncommittally. It looked like cloth, the same as every other piece of fabric he’d ever seen.</p><p class="Preference">Mylène shook her head ruefully. “One of these days you’re going to wear something that’s not black or a punk band, and everyone is going to drop dead in shock!”</p><p class="Preference">“Hey, every so often I wear blue,” he teased. He poked her in the ribs. “And every so often <em>you</em> wear grey!”</p><p class="Preference">She giggled and squirmed away. “Papa is perfectly fine with us coming here. <em>He</em>’s the one who suggested Portobello Road.”</p><p class="Preference">“‘Road where the riches of ages are sold,’” Ivan repeated, laughing. They’d watched that movie at the hotel the night before, and all Ivan could do was laugh at the absurdity. Of course, he had a nose ring connected to a tiny magical ox who was riding around in Mylène’s purse, so maybe he wasn’t in any position to call something “absurd.” He spied a stall with hair accessories on the other side of the street. “Do you want to look over there?” he asked.</p><p class="Preference">Mylène looked where he was pointing and nodded. “I’ve been thinking about a new kerchief, and I see some nice patterns there,” she told him, pulling him across. A wizened old woman sat behind the table, watching them carefully. Mylène felt a couple of kerchiefs before picking up one with stripes and holding it up to her hair. “What do you think?”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan shrugged. It looked about the same as every other item at the stall… for that matter it didn’t look too different from the one she was wearing at that moment!</p><p class="Preference">She gave him a disappointed look and turned to the woman behind the table. “He is hopeless,” she informed her. “What do <em>you</em> think?”</p><p class="Preference">“You can find anything you’re looking for on Portobello Road,” the woman replied.</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Perdon</em>?”</p><p class="Preference">“You’re looking for a hair accessory, and you have found one,” the woman explained. “But would you perhaps like another?”</p><p class="Preference">Mylène frowned.</p><p class="Preference">The woman picked up a bag and handed it to her. “Would you like this barrette to go with your hair scarf?”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan took a closer look at the barrette, which was indigo with a splash of orange in the center and looked to be designed for a little girl. He wasn’t exactly a fashion expert, but he couldn’t see it matching Mylène’s hair <em>or</em> the kerchief she’d picked out – <em>or</em> for that matter matching itself! A glance at Mylène’s face showed that she had reached the same conclusion. However, she shrugged and said, “My cousin’s birthday is coming up, so why not?”</p><p class="Preference">“That will be £3 for the kerchief and 75p for the barrette,” the woman told them.</p><p class="Preference">Ivan pulled out a handful of coins and placed them on the table before the two of them walked away. Mylène stuffed her purchases in her tote bag and they continued down the street. Considering all the stress of Paris – being part of the Heroes of Paris was an incredible responsibility – the opportunity to just get away from the city and the Heroes and the super-villains was not one Ivan would take lightly. Nor, from the look of joy on Mylène’s face, was she going to take it for granted, either. Considering that their last Saturday afternoon together had involved the Eiffel Tower nearly collapsing, he would take the people around them speaking a foreign language and be happy! After another hour of exploring, they stopped at a food stand for snacks and returned to the hotel room for an hour before meeting Mylène’s father for dinner. No sooner had they shut the door to the hotel room than a pair of Kwamis shot out of Mylene’s purse.</p><p class="Preference">“All day in your purse, surrounded by food, and we didn’t get to look at or taste <em>anything</em>!” grumbled Mullo.</p><p class="Preference">Mylène opened a bag and pulled out a wheel of deep-fried cheese. “How’s this?” she asked. In response, the Kwami dove into the cheese ravenously. Seeing the expectant look from Stompp, Mylène took handful of corn chips out of the bag and placed them on the bed for him.</p><p class="Preference">“So what did you get there?” Mullo asked around a mouthful of melted cheese.</p><p class="Preference">“Take a look!” Mylène answered excitedly, pulling out a couple skeins of fabric as well as her new kerchief and the barrette. “I’m hoping Marinette might make me a skirt with some of this fabric.”</p><p class="Preference">Mullo examined the fabric with mild interest before catching sight of the barrette. “Oh, no,” she moaned. Stompp looked up from his last chip, spotted the barrette, and burst into laughter.</p><p class="Preference">“What’s going on?” asked Ivan, furrowing his brows in confusion.</p><p class="Preference">Mullo groaned, rubbed her face, and pointed at the barrette. “Just… just open that thing and get it over with.”</p><p class="Preference">“I… I didn’t get it for <em>me</em> though,” Mylène argued. “You <em>know</em> I don’t wear barrettes. The last time I did was in <em>cours moyen</em>.”</p><p class="Preference">Stompp grinned toothily. “Please,” he replied mischievously, “just trust me. This is gonna be great.”</p><p class="Preference">With a shrug Mylène ripped the bag open and removed the barrette. The moment her fingers touched it, a flash of indigo light shot out of it and coalesced together into a Kwami.</p><p class="Preference">The Kwami, indigo with an orange bill, stuck out its tongue and blew a raspberry. “That’s for ditching me, you son of a <em>gander</em>!” it shouted. The Kwami twirled around in midair in surprise before staring up at Mylène, who let out a startled squeak. “You’re not my old mistress,” the Kwami stated, wide-eyed.</p><p class="Preference">Mullo peeked over Mylène’s shoulder and looked down at the new Kwami. “Hi, Dorreen,” she called glumly.</p><p class="Preference">“Mullo! I thought something smelled <em>fuzzy</em> around here!” Dorreen collided with Mullo and pulled her into a tight hug. Mullo squirmed helplessly before relenting and patting her back. “It’s so a-<em>mouse</em>-ing to <em>squeak</em> you again!”</p><p class="Preference">“It’s, um, good to <em>squeak</em> – I mean see – you again, too,” Mullo mumbled, trying and failing to extricate herself from the other Kwami’s suffocating embrace. “Oh, son of a rodent…” she muttered, arms dropping to her sides helplessly and staring at Stompp in distress.</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, don’t mind her,” Stompp observed, popping out and flying up to hover in front of the other two. “She just can’t stand the competition for cutest Kwami.”</p><p class="Preference">“You–you think I’m cute?” Dorreen asked, bursting into tears. She dropped Mullo and grabbed Stompp’s horns, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “I suppose in that case it be-<em>hoof</em>-s me to be-<em>steer</em> myself to stamp-<em>ede</em> out my jealousy! I can admit Mullo’s at-<em>rat</em>-tive! But of course, everyone else is simply <em>cow</em>-ed by how <em>steer</em>-ingly <em>hand</em>-some you are! It’s so <em>ox</em>-cellent to see you both!”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan’s jaw dropped to the floor as he watched the Kwamis banter back and forth. Stompp gave him a baleful look and grimaced as Dorreen tugged on his horns. Mullo darted out of sight and hid in one of their suitcases. After being a Miraculous holder for almost a year, Ivan had thought he was done with being surprised. After all, he had charged into burning buildings, punched an Akumatized object into the stratosphere, wrestled an ice cream monster, and even found an alien spaceship and pushed it through a portal into his friend’s basement. He could stop a plane or hold the Eiffel Tower in place during a tornado with his bare hands. He’d seen a woman <em>fly</em> and had almost gone to <em>space</em>!</p><p class="Preference">But this… this almost took the cake.</p><p class="Preference">Watching that stupid movie probably cursed them.</p><p class="Preference">Picking his jaw up off the floor, he glanced over at Mylène, who wore a similar expression of bafflement. “We bought a miraculous at a street fair…” she whispered at last, her eyes darting between the Kwami and the barrette she still held clutched in her hand. Suddenly she laughed shrilly. “Of <em>course</em> we’d find one at a street fair; why <em>wouldn’t</em> we find one at a street fair on Portobello Road???”</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen finally looked up and released Stompp’s horns on hearing that. Stompp flew around to hide behind Ivan’s back, rubbing his horns and grumbling under his breath. “You must be my new mistress!” squeaked Dorreen fluttering up to hover in front of Mylène’s face. Mylène made a strangled noise of surprise, her mouth hanging open, and crossed her eyes staring at the gleeful creature perched on her nose. “Oh, and your hair is so <em>pretty</em>! What do you use to tie it back? A <em>rainbow</em>?” She spun around doing back-flips and giggling. “No, you don’t want a <em>rain</em>bow, rain would make it too frizzy.” She stopped, a look of sheer delight on her face. “Then you would <em>be</em> a rainbow!!!”</p><p class="Preference">“I’m sorry,” Ivan began, drawing the Kwami’s attention away from his increasingly-flustered girlfriend, “but… who are you?”</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen looked him up and down appraisingly. “You must be Stompp’s holder,” she observed. “Have you always been as big as an <em>ox</em>, or is it just since you’ve been carrying one around in your pocket?” She chortled and pointed at Mylène. “But I suppose <em>this</em> one knows what you’re carrying in your pocket! Unless you’re siblings.” She made a face and shuddered. “I had a holder who was into that kind of thing once. That was a weird year… but looking at you two, there’s no <em>way</em> you’re related. <em>You</em>’ve got to be <em>related</em> to an ox, big guy!”</p><p class="Preference">“Well <em>that</em> cleared everything up,” Ivan grunted, fighting back a blush. Mylène tried and failed to stifle her giggling.</p><p class="Preference">“You’re <em>definitely</em> Stompp’s holder,” Dorreen repeated, turning to Mylène and clapping her hands. Mylène leaned back away from her. “So <em>you</em> must be <em>my</em> new gosling! Oh, we’re going to have so much fun together! I’ll braid your hair, and we’ll stay up late watching movies, and–”</p><p class="Preference">“Excuse me!” Mullo interrupted, interposing herself between Dorreen and Mylène and poking the other Kwami in the chest. “She’s <em>my</em> holder!”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh.” Dorreen’s face fell. “Unbe-<em>squeak</em>-able.” Her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly at Mullo, who paled. “We can share her! We’ll be like sisters! The Three <em>Mouse</em>-ke-<em>geese</em>! We’ll go everywhere together!”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, no,” Mullo grumbled, looking up at Mylène pleadingly. “<em>Please</em> make it stop!”</p><p class="Preference">Stompp floated up to sit on Ivan’s shoulder. “That would be Dorreen, the Goose Kwami,” he explained, eyes alight with amusement. “She’s the Kwami of Silliness, if you couldn’t tell.”</p><p class="Preference">“She could give Plagg a run for his money,” Ivan commented, raising his eyebrows.</p><p class="Preference">“You don’t know the half of it!” Mullo shouted, zipping away from them with Dorreen in hot pursuit.</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen stopped in midair to look at them, her eyes widening in surprise. “You know Plagg? That’s <em>paw</em>-sitively <em>purr</em>-fect! It would be such a <em>cat</em>-astrophe to not see him after so long! That would be unb-<em>ear</em>-able!”</p><p class="Preference">Ivan rubbed his forehead. “Does she ever stop?” he muttered.</p><p class="Preference">Stompp put a paw on his chin and furrowed his brow overdramatically. “You know, I don’t think so,” he finally whispered.</p><p class="Preference">“So why were you being sold at a street fair?” Mylène asked Dorreen.</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen shrugged and flew excited laps around the hotel room. “Don’t know,” she replied dismissively. “My last holder was so sweet, we had so much fun together, until I unscrewed the chandelier in her living room. They said I was being <em>fowl</em>. In my defense, I told them to <em>duck</em>,” she added defensively. “Though maybe I should have said <em>goose</em>. But then they would have thought we were playing a game.” She shrugged and flew straight through a light fixture, shorting it out as she went. “Her mother found me while we were playing tea party the next day, and that’s the last I remember.”</p><p class="Preference">“How old was your holder?” wondered Ivan.</p><p class="Preference">“Four. She never quite managed to say the transformation phrase right.”</p><p class="Preference">“I can’t image why a mother wouldn’t want her four-year-old playing around with you,” Ivan commented, rubbing his temples. “Or transforming into a goose hero…”</p><p class="Preference">“I know, right?” Dorreen replied, folding her arms and pouting.</p><p class="Preference">“And before that?” Mylène asked.</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen shrugged. “Here and there. Never had a holder for very long since Atlantis. Just got passed around like a Christmas <em>goose</em>.”</p><p class="Preference">“Gee-<em>se</em>, I wonder why…” Ivan grumbled.</p><p class="Preference">“Um, I’m sorry but I… don’t think I should be holding your miraculous and the Mouse at the same time,” Mylène told Dorreen hesitantly.</p><p class="Preference">“I understand,” answered Dorreen, looking over at Mullo sympathetically. “I hope there’s no hard feelings. I’ll tell you all the <em>tails</em> next time you’re out!”</p><p class="Preference">“Um, no, that’s not what I–”</p><p class="Preference">“I hope my memory doesn’t get too <em>fuzzy</em> before then!”</p><p class="Preference">“Dorreen, I’m sorry, but I have to renounce you!” Mylène almost shouted. There was a flash of indigo light, and the Kwami was sucked back into her barrette.</p><p class="Preference">Ivan blinked and popped his ears to acclimate to the room’s sudden quiet. “So I don’t think we’re giving that to your cousin…” he finally stated.</p><p class="Preference">Mylène shook her head. “I actually <em>like</em> this cousin,” she replied seriously. She replaced the barrette back in its bag, placed it on the bed, and backed away as though afraid it would come to life again. “But what <em>do</em> we do with it?”</p><p class="Preference">“Well…” Ivan answered slowly, “we can’t just return it…”</p><p class="Preference">“That’s far too much power to just be lying around in a stall for who-knows-who to pick up.”</p><p class="Preference">“And <em>we</em> can’t exactly hold onto another miraculous…”</p><p class="Preference">“That really wouldn’t be fair,” she agreed, nodding.</p><p class="Preference">“But we <em>do</em> know people who are supposed to <em>guard</em> miraculous…”</p><p class="Preference">“We do.” Mylène snorted. “I suppose Dorreen can be Marinette’s problem when we get home!”</p><p class="Preference">Mullo looked up at them pleadingly. “In that case can we maybe <em>avoid</em> the Mansion when we get back? Just for a few days–”</p><p class="Preference">“–weeks–” corrected Stompp.</p><p class="Preference">“–months?” finished Mullo.</p><p class="Preference">Ivan chuckled and shook his head ruefully. When they said <em>anything</em> and <em>everything</em> is sold on Portobello Road, they weren’t kidding!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Kwami Trauma</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette finds a shock waiting for her at the Mansion. What could possibly have given everyone PTSD?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">After a long day at the Agreste Fashion House office, Marinette’s first indicator that anything was wrong at the Agreste Mansion came when she was halfway up the long sloping driveway. The tree next to the drive, one which Marinette loved sitting under to find inspiration, had a splash of sky-blue coloring on one of the branches. She frowned: she knew every color of that tree – she had incorporated them into a skirt for the upcoming fall “Marinette” line – and <em>blue</em> most definitely was not one of them! She stepped off the driveway and stopped underneath the tree, staring at that branch. A sky-blue Kwami with dark red wings stared back down at her wide-eyed.</p><p class="Preference">“Paxx?” Marinette asked suspiciously. “What are you doing out here?”</p><p class="Preference">Paxx shook her head, her wings wrapped around her body. “They… they just wouldn’t calm down… I tried to Calm her, but… she’s <em>immune</em>! I think it only <em>enhanced</em> her… We–we couldn’t take any more!”</p><p class="Preference">A silver Kwami with angular ears and a snout stuck its head out from around the tree trunk. “That one is most definitely <em>not</em> welcome in my pack!” Mettli growled darkly.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette stared up at them in confusion for a moment before turning to Tikki, who had emerged from her spot in Marinette’s purse and flown up to rest on her shoulder. Marinette was about to ask her a question when Tikki shook her head and shrugged. “O–kay…” Concerned, she continued up the drive, only to stop and stare at the scene in the shade of a bush below the tall dining room windows.</p><p class="Preference">Kaalki and Nooroo were sitting across from each other on a half-empty plate of fruit salad. Nooroo had a conflicted look on his face, vacillating wildly between mania and terror. Kaalki’s normally languid expression had been replaced by one of shock, a half-eaten apple slice hanging out of her mouth.</p><p class="Preference">“I… I just can’t separate the emotions they’re all feeling…” Nooroo muttered, rocking back and forth, a forgotten grape in his paws. “It… it just won’t stop… It just keeps going… All the emotions… they’re just too strong… Complete opposites…”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette stared for a long minute before finally climbing the steps to the front door and keying in the code. Before the door opened, however, a mint-green Kwami phased through it, squeaking, “That’s <em>it</em>! I can’t <em>take</em> it anymore! I’m <em>done</em>!” Spying the two Kwamis sitting on the plate, she dove to join them and shoved an entire slice of watermelon ten times her own size into her mouth, rind and all. Kaalki slowly patted her on the shoulder and she continued grumbling around her mouthful of fruit.</p><p class="Preference">“What’s going on with Russa now?” Marinette wondered, looking at Tikki.</p><p class="Preference">Tikki stared at the Kwamis, jaw hanging open and eyes bugging out. “Oh, no…” she whispered, shuddering. “The shell-shock… the confusion… the PTSD… It’s happened again…”</p><p class="Preference">“What’s ‘oh, no’?” Marinette demanded. “What happened?”</p><p class="Preference">“Something that has only happened once before,” Tikki replied ominously, shuddering. “The Kwami War of 15…”</p><p class="Preference">“<em>What</em>?”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki shook her head, clenched her mouth tight, and refused to say another word. Dread pooling in the pit of her stomach, Marinette pulled the door open to find… absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The entrance looked just as it normally did, right down to Adrien’s life-size Kenshin statue in its accustomed place next to the office door. Pedro was pacing in the entrance hall. Mira was sitting at the security desk and reading a book.</p><p class="Preference">Seeing the door open, Pedro stalked toward Marinette and held his quarterstaff up to her face threateningly. Her eyes widened in shock, and she took a hesitant step back. “You remember our agreement, correct?” Marinette nodded mutely. “You know how I said I didn’t think you were abusing the miraculous under your control?” he asked, glowering at her.</p><p class="Preference">“Um, yes…” she managed, confused.</p><p class="Preference">He shook a finger in her face and let out a grunt of frustration. “I… I may have to revise that conclusion after today,” he informed her. “I… <em>You</em> may not be abusing that godforsaken miraculous… but that stupid thing is most <em>definitely</em> abusing <em>me</em>!” And with that, he stalked past her and out the door, slamming it shut behind him.</p><p class="Preference">“Mira?” she asked, walking over to the security desk. “What’s going on around here?”</p><p class="Preference">The other woman didn’t respond at all. Marinette knocked on the desk, but Mira didn’t move except to turn a page in her book. Marinette frowned and leaned over to take a closer look at her. There was a faint white glow around Mira’s ears.</p><p class="Preference">“Okay… this is getting weirder…” Marinette muttered. She’d only seen Mira use her sound deadening magic once before… when Ayilon had used her Plec-Drone power. But Marinette couldn’t hear anything like that. And Ayilon’s Kwami was outside. Having fled the house. Because she couldn’t take something that was happening inside. That Tikki said had only happened once in history! Which gave the <em>Kwamis</em> PTSD. What–</p><p class="Preference">Before she could finish the thought, Lise herself rushed past at the top of the stairs, coming from the direction of the guest rooms. Catching sight of Marinette she called, “Sorry, just on the way to the kitchen. We’re going to try to persuade him with candy!”</p><p class="Preference">“Persuade <em>who</em>?” Marinette demanded in her best “Boss-Bug” voice. But Lise was already disappearing down the hallway.</p><p class="Preference">Before she was gone, however, Mariette just barely heard her shout, “I swear I had no idea he was that close to the Miracle Box!”</p><p class="Preference">“‘The Miracle Box’?” Marinette repeated, even more confused. “What could have happened with the Miracle Box?” Tikki gave her a deadpan look, and Marinette giggled. “Okay, point taken. But still… the house is still standing…”</p><p class="Preference">At that moment Marinette heard voices coming from the direction of the guest rooms. Julia seemed to be arguing in rapid Spanish. She could also make out Marco’s giggle. And she could hear Adrien’s laugh. Whatever was going on couldn’t be <em>that</em> bad if Adrien was laughing about it. Right?</p><p class="Preference">Marinette slowly ascended the stairs and followed the voices until she reached the room that they had set aside as Marco’s “playroom.” The door was closed, but she could hear more voices from inside. High-pitched Kwami voices. But what Kwamis were left– Her eyes bugged out. “Wait…” Suddenly terrified of what she would find inside, she pushed the door open.</p><p class="Preference">The first thing Marinette saw on opening the door was Julia, kneeling in front of a playhouse Adrien had found in the attic left over from when he had been a child. She was pleading with the occupant in hurried Spanish, even while trying to reach through the tiny window to open the playhouse door. Marco seemed to have barricaded the door behind himself somehow, but his face was visible through one of the windows, laughing and giggling and babbling in a mix of English and Spanish, with the odd French word thrown in for good measure. And he was holding an indigo barrette in his fist.</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, no…”</p><p class="Preference">Sure enough, on the other side of the room, with Adrien sitting under them and holding a notepad, were Plagg and Dorreen.</p><p class="Preference">“That one was <em>claw</em>-ful!” Plagg groaned.</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen giggled. “I thought it was <em>purr</em>-fect! <em>Fur</em>-bulous!”</p><p class="Preference">“Are you sure about that?” Plagg demanded. “I thought it was a s-<em>wing</em> and a miss!”</p><p class="Preference">“No, I’m <em>paws</em>-itive it was a-<em>mew</em>-sing!”</p><p class="Preference">“I’m calling <em>fowl</em> on that!” Plagg retorted. “That one was a real <em>feline</em>-y!”</p><p class="Preference">“Would you consider it a <em>cat</em>-astrophe?”</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Paws</em>-itively <em>cat</em>-aclysmic! <em>Honk</em>-estly!”</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen spun around in a back-flip and shot off on a circuit around the room. “Then take a <em>gander</em> at this!” she called, caroming straight through a stuffed doll of the former French President, who fell off the shelf he was sitting on. “Check <em>meow</em>-t! I just took out Charles de <em>Gull</em>! It’s a <em>coo</em>! He met a <em>fowl</em> end!”</p><p class="Preference">“I’m gonna call the <em>goose</em>-tapo on you!”</p><p class="Preference">“You’d better not tell them any <em>tails</em> about me!”</p><p class="Preference">“I suppose that would be <em>hawk</em>-ward for you!”</p><p class="Preference">“Don’t be a <em>cheetah</em>!” Dorreen zipped around the room again, giggling shrilly.</p><p class="Preference">“You look like you’re on <em>quack</em> right now!” Plagg replied, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Or maybe you’re drunk. Did you go to the <em>crow</em>-bar?”</p><p class="Preference">“You’ve <em>cat</em> to be <em>kitten</em> me right <em>meow</em>!” Dorreen told him, dropping down in front of him. “I thought I looked <em>cat</em>-thletic!”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg shook his head. “That one was just inex-<em>goose</em>-able,” he groaned.</p><p class="Preference">“I don’t know,” Dorreen replied. “I think that’s a matter of o-<em>pinion</em>.”</p><p class="Preference">“I’m going to need some Tylenol after this,” Marinette muttered.</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, hi, <em>Purr</em>-incess!” Adrien greeted her, pulling her into a hug. “Your timing is im-<em>peck</em>-able!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette glared at him and poked him in the chest. “Not you, too!”</p><p class="Preference">“Why don’t you go and get some Tylenol, Pigtails?” Plagg suggested, cackling. “You can put it on Dorreen’s <em>bill</em>! Of course, the tab could get humon-<em>goose</em>!”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh yeah?” Dorreen retorted. “Well <em>toucan</em> play at that game!”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg gagged. “That one was so unb-<em>ear</em>-able, I think it gave me <em>chirp</em>-ies!”</p><p class="Preference">Dorreen snorted. “At least that’s <em>tweet</em>-able!”</p><p class="Preference">“Un-<em>fur</em>-tunately!”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki fluttered up to Plagg and Dorreen and screamed, “<em>Aren’t you two done yet!?!</em>”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg smirked mischievously. “Are we… <em>bug</em>-ging you?”</p><p class="Preference">“Tikki, I didn’t <em>spot</em> you coming in!” Dorreen added, flinging her arms around Tikki, who shrieked.</p><p class="Preference">“Stop it!!!!”</p><p class="Preference">“Aww,” Dorreen pouted. “But this is such <em>aphid</em>-ing reunion, don’t you think?”</p><p class="Preference">“Besides,” Plagg whined, “I can’t let her <em>beetle</em> me!”</p><p class="Preference">“That would be a headline for the <em>mews</em>-paper!” squealed Dorreen.</p><p class="Preference">“That one’s going to cost you <em>antenna</em>!” Plagg shot back.</p><p class="Preference">“Are you going to run out any time soon?” Tikki demanded, pushing Dorreen off her.</p><p class="Preference">“Are you <em>kitten</em>?” Plagg asked, gasping melodramatically. “I’ve still got a <em>mew</em>-<em>lion</em> of these!”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh yeah, well I’ve got a <em>meow</em>-ntain of puns left!” retorted Dorreen, squealing.</p><p class="Preference">“Will you two please stop!?!” Tikki begged.</p><p class="Preference">Plagg grinned impishly. “Say ‘<em>purr</em>-etty please,’ Sugar Cube!”</p><p class="Preference">“Aww…” Dorreen cooed. “You’re like Ro-<em>meow</em> and <em>Mew</em>-liet!”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki grabbed her antennae and screamed. “Augh!”</p><p class="Preference">There was a shout of triumph from the other side of the room, drowned out almost immediately by a piercing wail. Marinette whipped around to see Julia holding the Goose Miraculous in one hand and holding Marco back with her other hand. She looked at Dorreen and announced, “¡Dorreen, te renuncio!”</p><p class="Preference">“What!?!” Dorreen yelled as she was being sucked into the barrette. “<em>Owl</em> get you for this!”</p><p class="Preference">“Better <em>duck</em> next time!” Plagg retorted, cackling. He turned to Adrien and asked, “So who won?”</p><p class="Preference">Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m not a mathema-<em>chicken</em>.”</p><p class="Preference">“Please,” Plagg scoffed. “I’m not asking you to do <em>calico</em>-lus!”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki face-palmed. “You see what I had to put up with?” she asked Marinette, gesturing toward Plagg. “And it was All. The. Time. before he destroyed Atlantis!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette giggled. “I suppose now I know what happened to everyone else,” she observed. “They were all suffering from Pun-Traumatic Stress Disorder!”</p><p class="Preference">“That was a <em>cheep</em> joke,” Adrien commented, grinning.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette glared at him. “I refuse to patrol with you for a month!”</p><p class="Preference">“I didn’t think it was so <em>fur</em>-ible,” argued Adrien.</p><p class="Preference">“Are you <em>kitten</em>, Kid, that was <em>paw</em>-sitively a-<em>paw</em>-ling!” Plagg retorted.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette looked at Tikki, then down at the notebook full of puns that Adrien had written down. A look of dawning realization spread across her face. She looked up to find Adrien grinning eagerly at her. Julia had already left the room with Marco to return the Goose Miraculous to the Box. Tikki was halfway through the wall already. Marinette nearly ran straight into the door in her haste to escape.</p><p class="Preference">“But <em>Purr</em>-incess,” Adrien called after her, “this is just for your a-<em>mew</em>-sment!”<s></s></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Original Kwamis and Heroes:<br/>Paxx (Dove Kwami of Peace) – Mira/Hato Gozen<br/>Mettli (Wolf Kwami of Unity) – Julia/Lupa Gris<br/>Russa (Cicada Kwami of Annoyance) – Lise/Ayilon<br/>Dorreen (Goose Kwami of Silliness) – she’s in the market for a holder</p><p>AN: I already know Dorreen’s eventual holder, but a part of me wants to give her a temporary holder. What do you think: “Gorilla and the Goose”?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A Kwami Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>All the Kwamis in the Mansion meet in the Miracle Box</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This takes place shortly after <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25903252/chapters/62950333">"Subjecting a God,"</a> which introduces one of the Kwamis in question.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Plagg let out a sigh as he followed Tikki into the grotto where the Miracle Box was kept. “I don’t see what the big deal is,” he grumbled. “They’re doing just fine in there without us coming to visit.”</p><p class="Preference">“Don’t you want to see the others again?” asked Tikki. “We both know what it’s like to be in a Miracle Box, cut off from the physical world for a long time. Besides all the other Kwamis whose holders are in the Mansion at the moment are going to be there, too! It’s a reunion!”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg snorted. “You know who’s in there waiting?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. “I came up with a few more <em>puns</em> for this round!”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki glared and poked him in the chest. “If you even <em>think</em> about puns – and Keppi will know – I will have Kaalki drop you into the center of a star!” she retorted, dropping to rest on the place of cookies Marinette had brought down earlier. “Now help me carry a few of these inside.”</p><p class="Preference">“It’s been a while since I Cataclysmed a star!” Plagg commented, smirking. He made a face in distaste but scooped up a handful of the cookies anyways. “Why didn’t you have your girl make the cheese macaroons for us? Were they not <em>Gouda</em>-nough for you?”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki shot him a look. “You’re on thin ice, you mangy cat!”</p><p class="Preference">The moment they flew through the Miracle Box entrance, they were positively swarmed by a dozen Kwamis. The other Kwamis whose holders were staying at the mansion – Mettli, Keppi, Russa, and Paxx – were already in the box waiting for them, along with Kaalki and Nooroo, whose holders were upstairs having dinner with Marinette, Adrien, and the rest. The six without permanent holders – Barkk, Ziggy, Fluff, Duusu, Carro, and Dorreen – had been in a huddle visiting with them, but all of them immediately floated over on seeing the final two arrivals. Tikki broke up the cookies and handed them out to the others, while Mettli handed Plagg a wedge of camembert.</p><p class="Preference">“Tikki said if you found it out there, it wouldn’t make it inside,” she explained, smirking.</p><p class="Preference">“Tikki,” Plagg whined, taking a bite of the cheese, “you are un-<em>brie</em>–”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki clamped her paw over his mouth, her eyes darting to where Dorreen was helping herself to a piece of cookie, and hissed, “Not one more syllable!”</p><p class="Preference">“You’re no fun,” he grumbled, folding his arms in a pout.</p><p class="Preference">“What-<em>cheddar</em> is the matter, Tikki?” asked Dorreen, a twinkle in her eye. Carro narrowed her eyes at Dorreen, who gulped nervously and shoved a piece of cookie in her mouth.</p><p class="Preference">“The pack’s all here!” Mettli grinned and looked around at the fourteen Kwamis. “I don’t remember the last time Kwamis from four of the five Miraculous sets were together!”</p><p class="Preference">“It’s too bad Pupp isn’t here,” agreed Barkk, giggling shrilly. “Then all five sets would be represented!”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg scoffed. “No thanks,” he retorted. “I’m kinda feeling a little outnumbered here… Three canine Kwamis is two more than we need in the same place at the same time!”</p><p class="Preference">“What about me?” teased Carro, grinning. “Doesn’t the ‘sea dog’ Kwami count?”</p><p class="Preference">“Great… <em>another</em> ‘dog’…” Plagg grumbled.</p><p class="Preference">Keppi smiled. “At least we have all of us,” he commented. “For as much as I accepted the Guardians’ decision to separate my set throughout the continent, it does get lonely with just Krypp and Kiff for company most of the time. I do miss the days of Atlantis.” He chuckled. “I suppose that <em>is</em> the last time <em>all</em> the Kwamis were together…”</p><p class="Preference">
  <em>Here it comes…</em>
</p><p class="Preference">“Yeah…” Paxx observed, narrowing her eyes at Plagg. “Atlantis <em>was</em> the last place all the Kwamis were together. And since then I haven’t had <em>any</em> other Kwamis to visit with. It’s too bad <em>someone</em> had to destroy our home…” She drifted a little closer to Plagg, the dark red feathers on her head puffing out slightly.</p><p class="Preference">“You have something to say, Feathers?” he hissed, eyes narrowing to tiny slits.</p><p class="Preference">“You destroyed Atlantis!” she shouted, hovering centimeters in front of Plagg’s face. “My home: gone! Now I have no idea where the rest of my brothers and sisters from my set are! Bella has been abused for over a millennium. Sure, Dorreen and Carro are here, but what about the rest?”</p><p class="Preference">“Hey, at least <em>you</em>’ve had good holders for the last few millennia,” Carro retorted. “There were years I had a new holder every month! And not good ones, either…” She shuddered.</p><p class="Preference">Paxx put a paw on Carro’s shoulder and gave Plagg the stink eye. “Care to explain, Fuzzball?”</p><p class="Preference">Tikki floated between the two Kwamis, pushing them apart with a paw on their chests. “Plagg doesn’t have to tell if he doesn’t want to,” she insisted, fixing Paxx with a stern look.</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, <em>you</em> can know but I can’t?” Paxx scowled, folding her wings in a huff.</p><p class="Preference">“I <em>don’t</em> know,” Tikki replied calmly, folding her arms. “Whatever happened with Atlantis, Plagg has never wanted to talk about it, and I have never felt the need to press him on it.” She turned to Plagg. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”</p><p class="Preference">“No, it’s okay, Sugar Cube,” Plagg replied, sighing in resignation. “If I don’t say anything, she’ll just nag.” He scoffed at Paxx. “Maybe you could use your Calming Breath on me to see if I have any positive characteristics you can enhance! I don’t, by the way.” Without giving her a chance to respond he went on, “Let’s just get this over with.”</p><p class="Preference">The other Kwamis crowded around Plagg to listen.</p><p class="Preference">He sighed. “It’s not entirely my story,” he began. “Kaalki was there for part of it – just not the exciting part.” He looked at Carro and Paxx. “You were both away before it started, but Tikki remembers, I’m sure. She should; her holder at the time was the first casualty – it was all my holder could do to rescue her <em>miraculous</em>, never mind her holder.</p><p class="Preference">“Atlantis was under attack. Someone was lurking in the shadows, striking at the Guardians and holders. Several miraculous were stolen – Dorreen’s was just one of them. They were inside the city, they were outside the city… The mages could do nothing to uncover these enemies who were slaughtering miraculous holders left and right. The Guardians had no answer, either. After a year of siege – in which I went through no less than 50 different holders and Tikki had a dozen of her own – the High Council made the decision. They could not remain in the city. It was too dangerous.”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg looked around the group. All their eyes were focused on him, though both Tikki and Kaalki were nodding in remembrance. Even Paxx’s anger and frustration had shifted into shock and horror. He scoffed. Maybe he should have told the story months ago, if it would have shut up the Dove. He took another bite of his cheese before continuing.</p><p class="Preference">“The Council decided the city had to be abandoned and the miraculous had to be divided up, so Kaalki’s holder brought everyone out – a few Guardians with a Miracle Box at a time. They went off to start their own temples, to hide away from the world until needed. Then, once the city was almost entirely empty, they revealed to my holder what their full plan was. My holder took his position in the city center, right in front of the Great Miraculous Temple, and transformed with Kaalki. The last Guardians, the ones responsible for the Atlantean Set, were delayed in their preparations. We waited as long as we could for them to arrive, until the enemy had completely overwhelmed the last of the Guardians’ rear guard, until the enemy was staring us down, almost face to face. Then my holder opened a portal at the same moment that I unleashed the full might of Destruction on the island. Nothing survived – my holder only escaped by the skin of his teeth, falling through the portal moments before the wave of destruction hit. The city was utterly destroyed, as were all of our attackers. And the rest of the Atlantean Miraculous Set was scattered and lost.”</p><p class="Preference">Plagg looked at Paxx. “So yes, Tail Feathers: I <em>did</em> destroy Atlantis. And you and some of your set were lost. But they escaped. You’re welcome.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Original Kwamis:</p><p>Mettli (Wolf)<br/>Keppi (Scarab)<br/>Russa (Cicada)<br/>Paxx (Dove)<br/>Dorreen (Goose)<br/>Carro (Shark)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Gorilla and the Goose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Why is Adrien giving his bodyguard an indigo barrette?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">During his almost-ten-year stint in the Marine Infantry Paratroopers, the Gorilla had seen some things. Due to his size he had been assigned to a GDC unit and taken the specialized bodyguard training to protect their regional allies while the THP and RCO units fought their enemies. His unit had spent months in Africa fighting against local warlords. Although not the most decorated soldier in his company, he had served with distinction and compiled a service record that many soldiers would envy. At the end of his final tour, he had figured that he had seen enough of the world to last him for a lifetime, that it was time to settle down.</p><p class="Preference">Given his background, finding work as a bodyguard on his return to Paris after his discharge had been simple enough. The first agency where he applied had hired him, and his first interview had been with an up-and-coming fashion designer who needed a bodyguard and chauffeur for his wife and five-year-old son. He had sat stoically through the interview, giving simple nods and head shakes to the man’s questions. That interview was all it had taken: M. Agreste had nodded curtly, glanced over his resume, and hired him on the spot.</p><p class="Preference">Working for the Agrestes had been a simple enough job for the first eight years. In the morning he would drive M. Agreste to the office as often as not. Mme Agreste had the occasional photo shoot, sometimes joined by young Adrien, and the Gorilla would bring her and Adrien around to stores and parks and museums on some afternoons. Occasionally they would be out around the city when M. Agreste finished at the office, and the Gorilla would drive all three Agrestes back to their Mansion together, listening to Adrien regale his father with stories of the day. A military buddy on the police force had run background checks on some of the Agrestes’ closest associates for him to be on the safe side (Andre Bourgeois’ background had been… illuminating), but life had been simple and predictable.</p><p class="Preference">Then Mme Agreste had disappeared.</p><p class="Preference">After the bright, kind wife and mother vanished without a trace on a trip, M. Agreste became closed off and distant. He rarely went in to the office – in fact he rarely left his office at the Mansion. The only visitor he ever saw was Nathalie, his assistant. He refused to allow Adrien any freedom – even the boy’s oldest friend, the Bourgeois girl, was rarely permitted to visit. Each time Adrien had attempted to grasp for some form of freedom, it was met with greater restrictions, and the Gorilla as often as not bore the brunt of the father’s displeasure for Adrien’s occasional disappearing acts.</p><p class="Preference">Not coincidentally, the Akuma attacks had begun not long after Mme Agreste’s disappearance. And overnight the Gorilla’s job had changed from watching a happy-but-restricted teenager to protecting that same teenager from flying monsters and weather witches. And as often as not, his charge would utterly disappear during the attack, only to reappear the moment it was over.</p><p class="Preference">With the benefit of hindsight, he really should have pieced it all together much sooner than he had. But how many bodyguards can truthfully say they were hired by a secret super-villain? Or that their primary charge was one of the heroes tasked with <em>stopping</em> that same super-villain?</p><p class="Preference">The revelation that Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth had come as a shock to him – coming as it did no more than a month before his defeat. When Gabriel and Nathalie had transformed in front of his eyes, the shock had barely been allowed to sink in before he felt the Akuma attach itself to him. With no chance to fight it off, his world had dissolved into purple and rage. He had come around almost thirty minutes later, stuck in a gaping hole in the dining room floor, and M. Agreste had refused to allow him to leave the Mansion for the next month. And by then, it had all been over: Gabriel and Nathalie were in custody, and the Heroes of Paris had taken possession of their miraculous.</p><p class="Preference">As soon as the paperwork for his emancipation had gone through, Adrien had issued Gorilla a new contract to continue as his bodyguard and driver. And just like that, Gorilla had gone from working for one miraculous user to working for another one.</p><p class="Preference">He still couldn’t remember when he had realized Adrien was hiding a secret. At first he had simply explained away the boy’s frequent disappearing acts as being youthful rebellion – his father was so restrictive, of course the boy would sneak around behind his father’s back. Gorilla had only wished Adrien would tell <em>him</em> where he went so he wouldn’t have to worry! But then he had realized that, more and more, Adrien’s disappearances coincided too neatly with the heroes’ battles against Akumas. Add to that Adrien’s disappearance after his father revealed himself as Hawk Moth, and it didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together. Adrien was Cat Noir. And if Adrien was Cat Noir, then Ladybug could only be the boy’s new girlfriend, Marinette.</p><p class="Preference">In a way, he was glad that they had found each other when they had. Adrien had been so distraught when his mother disappeared, and to lose not only his father, but Nathalie (who had become the closest thing to a parent he had left) at the same time would have utterly devastated him. And yet, when he saw Adrien the day after his father’s defeat, the boy had looked… happy. Yes, there had been hurt and pain in his eyes, but the soft gaze he gave to Marinette, the way she held his hand so gently… Gorilla hadn’t seen the boy so happy since his mother’s disappearance.</p><p class="Preference">And as much as he wanted to doubt his own logic, these two had to be the heroes.</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla had contented himself to wait until the kids decided to let him know themselves; in the meantime he could watch over the Heroes of Paris just as he had for one of them for over a decade. The job was the same; just the responsibilities were markedly different. Now he had an even greater reason to scare away the protesters who wanted to blame Adrien for his father’s crimes: he couldn’t allow them to discover the Heroes’ identities and put them at risk.</p><p class="Preference">After Adrien’s near-arrest, he had asked Gorilla to take on more responsibilities as the Head of Security for Agreste Fashion House – after the break-in he had decided to replace the previous security head just to be safe. Consequently Gorilla’s responsibilities at the Mansion had dropped close to zero. He had only visited the Mansion a couple times since then – primarily to pick up Adrien (and Marinette) when they happened to be staying there – and had been a little surprised to find a stranger occasionally sitting at his accustomed desk starting not long after their Spring Break. His military buddy had tried to run a background check on this “Mira” woman, but had come up completely blank. But if the kids trusted her, who was he to question them? After all, this was Cat Noir and Ladybug. And if they wished to keep him away from the Heroes of Paris, what else could he do but accept it and trust them?</p><p class="Preference">All the same, he had still stopped at the Mansion on Heroes’ Day, just to make sure no one would take advantage of the celebration to vent some frustration against that particular symbol of the late, “great,” Hawk Moth. Fortunately, the handful of protesters outside the Mansion’s gate had kept their distance and been respectful. And there were less than a dozen of them, a far cry from the hundreds who had turned out on the day of Gabriel’s sentencing.</p><p class="Preference">So when, a couple days after Heroes’ Day, Adrien asked Gorilla to step into his office at the Mansion, he was a little surprised.</p><p class="Preference">The boy – man now, really – sat down in the sleek, modern desk chair that had replaced his father’s imposing chair several months earlier, and gave Gorilla a nervous look. His eyes dropped down to the desk in front of him, where he was fidgeting with his ring. Amazing: the boy could stare down super-villains like Gorizilla without flinching, but was nervous in front of Gorilla!</p><p class="Preference">“I–I don’t know how to say this,” Adrien began, before stopping and licking his lips nervously. He coughed and tried again. “I have a serious favor to ask of you, and it means letting you in on something that’s absolutely – and I mean <em>absolutely</em> – crucial.”</p><p class="Preference">Ah. Gorilla let out a snort of laughter and held up a hand to stop Adrien’s rambling before it could really begin. He pointed at Adrien’s hand and then ran a hand over his head.</p><p class="Preference">“Wait… you… you know?” Adrien stared at him in shock.</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla gave him a deadpan look and nodded.</p><p class="Preference">“And you’re okay with that?”</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla shrugged but nodded again.</p><p class="Preference">Adrien sighed in relief. “I’m sorry for running off so much,” he told him. “I… can’t imagine it was fun for you not knowing where I was half the time.”</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla shrugged.</p><p class="Preference">“Anyways,” Adrien went on. “So Ladybug–” Gorilla jerked his head at the newest portrait in the office “–right, Marinette. We talked last night, and we think it’s time we bring you in on this. Though I guess we could have done it a whole lot <em>sooner</em>,” he muttered. “So anyways, we weren’t sure which miraculous to give you, or even if you would want to use one, but we thought… maybe you could tame the Goose Miraculous? We think her ability of Silliness might be useful if our newest recruit ever gets out of control again like yesterday.” Adrien withdrew a small black box from the desk drawer and placed it on the desk between them.</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla picked it up and opened it slowly to find an indigo barrette. He gave Adrien a look of disbelief.</p><p class="Preference">Adrien grinned at him sheepishly. “Um… you could use it as a cufflink?”</p><p class="Preference">An indigo light shot out of the barrette and coalesced into a small indigo bird with a bright orange beak. She took one look at Gorilla and squeaked, “Hi! I’m Dorreen and it’s a <em>huge</em> honor to meet you! An <em>enormous</em> privilege!”</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla stared at the Kwami nonplussed, and she frowned.</p><p class="Preference">“Um, maybe we could take a stroll in the <em>guard</em>-en and you can tell me about yourself?” she suggested.</p><p class="Preference">He gave her a look and she quailed.</p><p class="Preference">“Well,” she tried hesitantly, “what if I told you it’s a real <em>thrilla</em> to meet <em>Gorilla</em>? That the other Kwamis would go <em>ape</em> for the privilege? That the two of us will get up to some real <em>monkey business</em>?”</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla stared at her, a stern expression on his face.</p><p class="Preference">“Boy, this is a tough crowd,” the Kwami muttered sullenly.</p><p class="Preference">Gorilla chuckled.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There are a couple of deep-cut Easter eggs in here to spot</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Babysitting Shenanigans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Manon begs Marinette to bring her to the Mansion. Nothing can go wrong there, right?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter happens during the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066554/chapters/63439372">"Lisbon" arc</a> of "The Battle for the Seine"</p><p>Manon in canon is listed as 5. This is a year after “Mind Games,” which was itself 2 years after the start of the series, so at this point Manon is 8. I think I may have skewed a little young in my portrayal of her.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">When the summer had started, Manon had expected to see her favorite babysitter all the time. Her mom had to work almost every day, meaning that Manon was stuck with babysitters almost all day, every day. Every year before, as far back as she could remember, she’d gotten to hang out with Marinette at her parents’ bakery, which was just amazing! Sometimes she and Marinette would bake cookies and eat the entire batch before her mom came to pick her up. Other times Marinette would get out her dolls and they could play pretend with her Ladybug and Cat Noir dolls. Marinette’s parents always had some pastries from a couple days before that they couldn’t sell anymore, and Manon could take her pick of them. And when the weather was nice, they could walk over to the park across the street to play with the other kids there.</p><p class="Preference">But this summer, instead of Marinette, Manon had had to put up with a string of other babysitters. Marinette’s friends – Alya and Nino – had been all right (Ella and Etta were so awesome to play with!), but then there were the old ladies whose houses smelled like cats and who didn’t have anything fun for her to do. Sure, Marinette still watched her a couple times each month, but it just wasn’t the same. Manon had already known that being a grownup wasn’t any fun – her mom’s job made that clear. But Marinette wasn’t even a grownup yet and she was already acting like one!</p><p class="Preference">So today was amazing! It was a Friday afternoon, and Marinette was her babysitter while her mom covered a news story somewhere outside of Paris and Alya and Nino were away for the weekend. Marinette had picked her up in the morning with a bag of fresh pastries for them to eat while they walked. Then Marinette brought her to the park, where she spent hours swinging on the swing set and riding on the merry-go-round and chasing the other kids. Of course Marinette only played a little bit – she said she had a design that she needed to finish that weekend.</p><p class="Preference">When lunchtime came, Manon ran up to where Marinette was sitting on a bench with her sketchbook on her lap and looking like she was talking to herself. “I’m hungry!” Manon whined.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette closed her sketchbook and looked down at her. “So what do you want to eat?”</p><p class="Preference">“I dunno.”</p><p class="Preference">“Do you want pizza?”</p><p class="Preference">“No.”</p><p class="Preference">“Do you want sandwiches and cookies from the bakery?”</p><p class="Preference">“No.”</p><p class="Preference">“Do you want–”</p><p class="Preference">“I want to go to your house!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette looked at her in confusion. “But I thought you just said you <em>didn’t</em> want something from the bakery,” she replied.</p><p class="Preference">Manon stared at her. “Not your <em>bakery</em>. Your <em>house</em>.”</p><p class="Preference">“But–” Marinette stopped abruptly and flushed. “Wait – do you think I live at Adrien’s mansion?”</p><p class="Preference">“Duh. You’re married, aren’t you?”</p><p class="Preference">“I–we don’t–I’m not–” Marinette stopped and took a breath. “We’re <em>getting</em> married,” she finally told her, cheeks bright red. “And you’re going to be there for it, remember? So we’re not married <em>yet</em>. But if you want to see <em>Adrien</em>’s house…” She took Manon’s hand and set a brisk pace out of the park. “Come on.”</p><p class="Preference">Manon immediately pulled her hand out of Marinette’s and raced ahead of her down the street, ignoring Marinette’s warning to stay close. She didn’t need to worry; Manon knew exactly where the Agreste Mansion was. She could just see the mansion in the distance now, only a couple blocks away. A car was barreling down the street from her left, but the light was green so–</p><p class="Preference">“Manon!”</p><p class="Preference">Manon gasped and almost fell backward as Marinette grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back out of the street, moments before the car blew right past, centimeters from her face. “But the light was green!” Manon shouted after the car indignantly.</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Was</em>,” Marinette emphasized. “It changed the moment you stepped off the curb, and that–” she screamed something into her elbow that Manon didn’t catch “–wasn’t paying attention to you. You need to be careful, sweetie.”</p><p class="Preference">Manon nodded solemnly. “I know… thank you. You–you’re just like Ladybug!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette gave her a look of surprise, paling slightly. “What makes you say that?”</p><p class="Preference">“You’re always helping people!” explained Manon like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And you saved me! Just like Ladybug did!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette giggled and leaned over so their faces were on the same level. “Yup, I really <em>am</em> just like Ladybug! So when Ladybug tells you to be careful crossing the street, what do you say?”</p><p class="Preference">“I will!” Manon declared before breaking down in a fit of giggles.</p><p class="Preference">They made it to the mansion without any further incident, and Manon raced ahead of Marinette up the long driveway to the front door. The door was hanging ajar, and Manon tugged it open and ran inside to find herself inside a huge front entrance hall. She stopped to stare up at the colorful tapestries hanging from all the walls, interspersed with pictures of Adrien and Marinette and all their friends. Along one wall she even found a picture of herself modeling with Adrien almost three years ago. And next to it was another picture with her and Adrien and Marinette together at the zoo last fall, posing next to the monkey cage. A throat cleared from the far side of the hall, and when she turned to see who it was, she gasped involuntarily.</p><p class="Preference">The man sitting at the desk stared down at her with his chin out and his brows knitted together. Enormous hands rested on the desk in front of him, and he flexed one hand and let out a threatening grunt. Manon gulped. Maybe coming here <em>wasn’t</em> such a good idea.</p><p class="Preference">“Hello, Gorilla!” Marinette called happily on walking through the doors. “I see you met Manon already. She has a habit of running ahead… Manon, you remember Gorilla, right? Adrien’s bodyguard?”</p><p class="Preference">Manon nodded numbly, not taking her eyes off the enormous man staring down at her.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette giggled. “Maybe I should have brought you over here <em>sooner</em>,” she observed.</p><p class="Preference">The Gorilla grinned and let out a laugh, holding his arms out and relaxing his hands. Manon cautiously walked closer to him. When she got up close he held out a fist for her to pound, and she giggled before giving him a fist bump. A spot of orange caught her eye on the end of his coat sleeve that didn’t quite seem to fit with his dark blue suit coat. Looking closer, she realized it was attached to a purple barrette.</p><p class="Preference">“Is that your little girl’s?” Manon asked, pointing at the barrette.</p><p class="Preference">The Gorilla chuckled and shook his head before pointing at his own chest.</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Yours</em>?” she asked, giggling. “You’re silly! I like you!”</p><p class="Preference">“So what do you want to make for lunch, sweetie?” Marinette asked, putting a hand on Manon’s shoulder to stop her stream of questions.</p><p class="Preference">“Chicken salad!” Manon shouted eagerly.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Chicken salad it is,” she agreed, steering Manon toward the kitchen.</p><p class="Preference">On entering the kitchen, Manon gasped. This kitchen was almost as large as her <em>apartment</em>! Alya had brought her to Le Grand Paris one time and they had looked inside the kitchen where Alya’s mom worked, and this kitchen looked almost the same size! She had never seen some of the tools on the counters in here before. Marinette immediately opened the refrigerator and started pulling ingredients out, mumbling to herself as she did so. “Can you get the frying pan out of that cabinet over there?” she asked Manon. “I’ll also need the mixing bowl.”</p><p class="Preference">Manon hurried to obey and pulled out what Marinette needed. As she was opening the cabinet to find the big metal mixing bowl, she stopped for a second. She thought she had heard something coming from the corner of the room, maybe near the ceiling. It sounded like… voices? High-pitched, squeaky voices? She cocked her head and listened closer, but she didn’t hear it again.</p><p class="Preference">“Manon!”</p><p class="Preference">Manon quickly grabbed the mixing bowl and kicked the cabinet shut behind her before plopping the mixing bowl down on the counter next to Marinette. Marinette promptly dumped the other ingredients into the mixing bowl. The chicken sizzled in the frying pan.</p><p class="Preference">“Can you watch this for a minute?” asked Marinette. “You shouldn’t need to do anything. I just need to run to the bathroom.”</p><p class="Preference">Manon grinned and nodded eagerly. The moment Marinette was out of the room, Manon looked around and found a cookie jar on the far side of the room. She pulled it toward her, twisted off the lid, and found a ton of tiny bite-sized cookies. These weren’t very big! She grabbed a handful and stuffed them into her mouth. The chicken was still cooking just fine, and Manon poked it a couple times with her finger the way her mom always did. She frowned. Was it supposed to cook faster when she did that? Marinette had left her purse on the counter, and something made it fall over on its side so a red string stuck out. Curious, Manon walked over to it and tugged on the string. Out came a little red doll with black spots. The doll had an enormous head and huge blue eyes. Manon realized that the string was actually one of the doll’s two antennae.</p><p class="Preference">“Marinette must have made a new Ladybug doll!” Manon squealed. “Only this one’s <em>actually</em> a ladybug! Or at least it’s <em>sort of</em> a ladybug…” She looked closer. “The head’s all wrong,” she decided. “Too bad she didn’t make a black kitty to go with it!” She frowned and took a closer look: had the doll’s smile always looked so pained?</p><p class="Preference">Looking around the kitchen, Manon could imagine that the cookie jar could be an Akuma for this doll-Ladybug to fight. She stood the doll up in front of the jar and moved it into position. It must have been new; the joints didn’t move too well. “The <em>chip</em> is up, Cookie Monster! You <em>oat</em> to have known I would get you eventually! Even <em>raisin</em> an army didn’t save you!”</p><p class="Preference">At that moment a smell wafted over from the other side of the room. It smelled like the chicken was done. She also heard the bathroom door open and footsteps in the hallway. Marinette would be back soon. Manon ran over to check on the chicken, leaving the doll to lie on the counter. She flipped the chicken again and saw that that side had charred a little bit, so she pulled it out of the pan and placed it on the cutting board just as Marinette reentered the kitchen.</p><p class="Preference">“Any trouble?” Marinette asked.</p><p class="Preference">“Nope!” Manon assured her, giving her as innocent a smile as she could. She looked over at the other counter, hoping Marinette wouldn’t notice her doll was there. The doll was missing! Manon schooled her expression and tried to look calm.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette didn’t seem to notice Manon’s mini-panic attack; she simply diced up the chicken, added it to the salad, and served it up on bread. Manon tore her eyes away from the counter and looked up at where Marinette held out a plate with a sandwich and a handful of chips to her. Manon took the plate and dug in, hoping Marinette wouldn’t notice that she had somehow lost her doll. She almost panicked when Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, but Marinette didn’t say anything, and Manon sighed in relief.</p><p class="Preference">After they cleaned up the kitchen, Manon looked up at Marinette and asked, “Now can you show me the rest of the house? This place is huge!”</p><p class="Preference">Marinette sighed affectionately but followed her out of the kitchen. Manon raced down the nearest hallway. “That’s where our guest rooms are!” Marinette called after her. “Don’t open any closed doors!”</p><p class="Preference">Manon nodded. Most of the doors were closed, but a couple of doors were ajar with nothing inside. Finally she came to a room with the door open that looked like it was packed with toys. “Is this a nursery?” she asked when Marinette finally caught up with her. “This is a nursery for a <em>baby</em>, isn’t it? Are you gonna have a baby?”</p><p class="Preference">“<em>What</em>?” Marinette sputtered, turning beet red and staring at Manon with her eyes bugging out. “I–I–”</p><p class="Preference">“Yeah, Marinette, <em>are</em> you having a baby?” an unfamiliar voice asked. Manon looked down the hall to find a teenager with darker skin standing there holding a toddler by the hand and smirking at them.</p><p class="Preference">Marinette laughed sheepishly and slapped her own face. “Not just yet,” she finally answered. She poked Manon in the stomach. “But if I <em>do</em> eventually, <em>you</em>’re going have to babysit them, and I hope they’re just as wild as <em>you</em>!”</p><p class="Preference">Manon giggled.</p><p class="Preference">The toddler, seeing Manon, pulled away from the other girl and ran up to Manon. “¡Hola! Play with me?” He grabbed Manon’s hand and dragged her into the playroom, where he found a pair of foam swords and threw one at Manon. Manon grabbed the sword out of the air and whacked him over the head with it, eliciting a round of giggles.</p><p class="Preference">In the doorway behind them, the other girl laughed and asked Marinette, “So this is the <em>diabilla</em> you babysit?”</p><p class="Preference">“You have no idea…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. A Canine Conversation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chloe and her "Power Puppy" need to talk...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This follows up on the ending of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25903252/chapters/62950333">“Subjecting a God,”</a>  and takes place after  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066554/chapters/63641662">the “Egypt” arc</a> of “The Battle for the Seine.”</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Two days after her first conference with the leaders of the African Miraculous Council, Chloe knocked on the door to Alix’s room and stuck her head inside. Alix was idly skimming through something on her phone but looked up in surprise on being interrupted. “I need to borrow your helmet for a few minutes,” Chloe told her briskly.</p><p class="Preference">“What’s going on?” asked Alix, giving her a confused look. “You realize our helmets are almost exactly the same, right?”</p><p class="Preference">“Obviously I know that,” Chloe retorted, rolling her eyes. “It’s the ‘almost’ that interests me. I really need to have a conversation with Bee.”</p><p class="Preference">Alix arched an eyebrow at her dubiously, moments before Bee-atrice bounded through the doorway, yipping and wagging her tail excitedly. She jumped on Alix’s bed, climbed onto her chest, and started bouncing up and down, licking her face happily.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe smirked as Alix petted the over-eager puppy hesitantly, leaning back away from the slobbery tongue. “Max sent her through a portal this morning,” she explained. “Not much to do now until he sends us information on another shipment, so I might as well have Bee to take for walks around the temple.” Part of her was glad Alix was otherwise occupied with preventing Bee-atrice from sticking her tongue in her mouth; she didn’t need Alix looking up and seeing the vulnerability that Chloe still couldn’t quite manage to hide some of the time. She’d gotten enough questions from Max and Sabrina when she called them with her request; she had no desire to deal with even <em>more</em> questions about her inability to sleep comfortably without Bee curled up on her bed!</p><p class="Preference">“It’s next to the closet,” Alix finally managed, pushing Bee-atrice away from her face and twisting away from her as the puppy licked her neck and chin.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe found the black helmet under Alix’s light-blue padded shirt and picked it up. The moment she put her hand inside, Bee-atrice’s barking transformed into speech that she could understand.</p><p class="Preference">“Alix! It’s so amazing to see you again!” Bee-atrice was yapping. “This place is <em>enormous</em>! And there are so many interesting smells here! I can’t wait to explore all of them. It’s so exciting! And I think I heard a rat behind the wall! Will you come and chase it with me?”</p><p class="Preference">“Considering how far below ground we are right now, it’s probably not a rat,” Chloe observed. “But I’m not sure what it <em>could</em> be in Egypt, so…”</p><p class="Preference">Bee-atrice turned to look at her in surprise, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She jumped up and down on Alix’s chest, forcing a grunt from her, before leaping off of her and throwing herself at Chloe’s legs. “You can understand me now!?! That’s so amazing! <em>You</em>’re so amazing! This whole <em>place</em> is so amazing! I’m so happy to be here with you!”</p><p class="Preference">Chloe knelt in front of her and rubbed her behind the ears, eliciting a happy rumble from the puppy as she leaned into Chloe’s hand, her eyes rolling up into her head in pleasure. “Most of the time it’s not really that difficult to understand you, baby puppy,” she pointed out with an affectionate smile.</p><p class="Preference">“Is that <em>really</em> what I sound like to everyone else?” muttered Alix, fishing out her earbuds.</p><p class="Preference">“Probably,” Chloe retorted with a smirk.</p><p class="Preference">Alix furrowed her brows at her in disbelief. “I–I’m not sure how you did that, but somehow I think you said that in <em>chipmunk</em>!” She shook her head, shoved the earbuds into her ears, and turned her focus back to the phone.</p><p class="Preference">“Does this mean that we’re going to be heroes together again?” Bee-atrice asked Chloe, her tail wagging excitedly. “I can’t wait!”</p><p class="Preference">Chloe sighed. “I… don’t think so, sweetie,” she finally replied, scratching her behind the ears.</p><p class="Preference">“What?” Bee-atrice whined. Her tail stopped wagging and her ears drooped. She stared up at Chloe wide-eyed, a high-pitched whine starting in her throat.</p><p class="Preference">“I’m sorry!” Chloe swallowed back a sob. “It’s just… last time you got hurt really badly and that really scared me,” she explained. “I mean, yes it was awesome that you were with me when we got Rene arrested – and seeing his nose looking like it had been through a meat grinder was supremely satisfying. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there to help me when he had me pinned to the ground. You protected me that time. And when we fought Killer Bee, you saved me that time, too. <em>And</em> you almost got the Bee Miraculous back from her! You really were my hero that time!” She kissed the puppy on the forehead, burying her face in her soft puppy fur. “But Killer Bee really hurt you. She could have killed you. And I don’t know how bad it would have been if Ladybug hadn’t healed you. I could never forgive myself if you got hurt because of me.”</p><p class="Preference">“But… we’re partners,” insisted Bee-atrice, looking up at her wide-eyed and licking Chloe’s nose. “You’re my mistress and I won’t let <em>anyone</em> hurt you!”</p><p class="Preference">“And you are my best friend and I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt!”</p><p class="Preference">Bee-atrice let out a soft whine. “But–but I protect you! Why–why can’t I protect you?” she pleaded, staring up into Chloe’s face with her big, shining eyes, her mouth quivering.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe looked into the puppy’s dejected face, and could feel her heart breaking. She picked Bee up and hugged her to her chest. “Fine, but you have to promise me that you will be careful!”</p><p class="Preference">Bee-atrice wagged her tail excitedly and licked Chloe’s cheek.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe glanced over in surprise when she heard laughing from the other side of the room. “I had no idea you had that kind of affection in you, Chlo!” Alix observed with a smirk.</p><p class="Preference">Holding the puppy tightly to her chest, she replied, “If you breathe a word to anyone, they will never find your body!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Honey Bee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"The name's Bourgeois. Chloe Bourgeois."</p><p>Alix and Chloe go undercover together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story takes place a couple days after the end of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066554/chapters/64324114">“The Battle for the Seine,”</a> which explains the setting and the characters involved.</p><p>Yellow 14 on FF.net said Alix was basically a Disney Princess because she has animal sidekicks. My initial response was that she can’t be a princess because she doesn’t wear a dress, and there are practically no circumstances under which she would wear a dress. I mean, for her to wear a dress, she would have to–oh. And then this story happened.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Alix rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and fingered the light blue fabric around her waist as she allowed her eyes to roam around the room. Only two days ago they had carried out their part of Ladybug’s mission to end Lynchpin’s drug smuggling operation – and despite Lynchpin’s unexpectedly-increased security at the Suez Canal, they had succeeded. Yesterday, Chloe had made arrangements for them to return to Paris over the weekend. Then this morning Yousef had received an urgent message from a contact inside a recently-formed terrorist group: they were planning to bomb downtown Cairo next week in an effort to overthrow the less-than-a-decade-old Egyptian government. Over their time in Egypt, Yousef had commented about his reservations regarding this administration, but even he admitted that it was preferable to the chaos that had preceded it. And a terrorist attack on a civilian population was an atrocity to which the Egypt Miraculous Team could not turn a blind eye, especially if they were in a position to prevent it. Their one chance to prevent the attack was to capture the terrorist leader at a dinner he was attending tonight and deliver him to the authorities.</p><p class="Preference">And now Alix found herself mingling with a crowd consisting mostly of Egyptian elites – most of whom could buy the Louvre twice – wearing the brand-new dress Chloe had forced her to buy when they had visited the stores that afternoon. There was something decidedly uncomfortable about the way the half-sleeves sat on her arms and the fabric swished around her otherwise-bare legs, but it could have been worse – Chloe had tried to convince her to buy a dress with a swooping neckline and spaghetti straps that only reached the middle of her thighs, and Alix had nearly thrown her through a display case. Sure, they were going to a formal event on Hero business and she needed to blend in – as much as a French teen with pink hair <em>could</em> blend in with this particular crowd – but there were some things Alix just couldn’t bring herself to do. Besides, <em>Chloe</em> was the one who was supposed to stand out tonight. So while Chloe had found a dress skimpy enough that it had almost gotten her turned away at the door, she and Alix had compromised on Alix’s dress. Chloe agreed that Alix could wear something with a higher neckline to hide the necklace she’d removed from her helmet to wear by itself for this particular mission. Alix agreed not to break Chloe’s arm.</p><p class="Preference">Though if Alix was being honest, she would much rather have been sitting in the van with Jalil and wearing her helmet and padded suit than working the ballroom in this stupid dress.</p><p class="Preference">But it could have been worse: she could have been wearing heels.</p><p class="Preference">“Would you stop fidgeting?” Chloe told her irritably over their communicators. Alix glanced around to see Chloe watching her in her peripheral vision from the other side of the room, her own high heels increasing her already-better-than-average height and enabling her to see over most of the crowd. “Have you seriously never worn a <em>dress</em> before!?!”</p><p class="Preference">“The last time I wore one of these things was probably <em>petite</em> graduation,” Alix retorted. “I wouldn’t be wearing one <em>now</em> if you hadn’t gotten Bee involved!”</p><p class="Preference">“So what do you wear when you attend formal events?” demanded Chloe.</p><p class="Preference">“I don’t.”</p><p class="Preference">“<em>Ridicule</em>,” Chloe muttered. Alix stifled a snort as Chloe immediately turned her expression of disgust into a tittering laugh for the benefit of the man who had just approached her.</p><p class="Preference">“What about the dinner to honor Dad when he was named Curator of Egyptian Antiquities?” asked Jalil.</p><p class="Preference">Alix flushed. “I thought we were never to discuss that night again!”</p><p class="Preference">“Now I need to hear the story!” Chloe observed.</p><p class="Preference">“And you never will – at least if Jalil wants to keep all his teeth…”</p><p class="Preference">Omar, who had positioned himself near the entrance, chuckled. “You make me wish I had siblings!” He cleared his throat. “Have we located Qadim yet?”</p><p class="Preference">“Facial recognition has come up negative so far,” reported Jalil.</p><p class="Preference">“A small number of the attendees’ faces appear to have been altered to fool facial recognition, however,” Turing added. “I am analyzing them manually.”</p><p class="Preference">Alix allowed the crowd to carry her to the far side of the room, close to the hallway leading to the rest of the old palace hosting the event. She followed with her peripheral vision as Chloe drifted to the middle of the hall, trailed by a couple of men dressed in sharp business suits. The man she’d been visiting with before handed her a glass, and Alix almost missed when she surreptitiously dipped a fingernail in it. Chloe held the glass under her nose as though savoring the smell. After a moment she lowered it to her lips and muttered, “Better luck next time, jackass,” before stepping wrong on a heel, stumbling forward, and spilling the drink all down the man’s shirt. The man looked at her in shock and raised his hand but thought better and instead tried to wipe off his shirt. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Chloe simpered in fake concern, dabbing at his shirt with a napkin and brushing a hand against his waist.</p><p class="Preference">“I really hope that was not the target, Chlo,” Alix commented wryly.</p><p class="Preference">“Nah, just some dick trying to drug the ‘hot European blonde,’” she replied dismissively as the man walked away. “But he is packing.”</p><p class="Preference">“Then he could be <em>with</em> Qadim,” warned Omar, tracking the man with his eyes.</p><p class="Preference">“I have located Qadim,” Turing announced. “He is approaching Sent-Bee from her 4 o’clock with a pair of unknown men.”</p><p class="Preference">“Showtime,” Chloe commented, turning and smiling brightly as the man in question greeted her.</p><p class="Preference">Alix slipped out of the room and looked up and down the hallway beyond. The hallway was lined with doors on either side, but the first two she tried were both locked. Over the communicator she heard Chloe let out an uncharacteristic giggle and say, “You are too funny!” Time was running out.</p><p class="Preference">Movement near the end of the hall drew Alix’s attention. It was a light-grey cat. “Hey!” she called. “You look like you know your way around this place! Any chance you know of a room that’s unlocked?”</p><p class="Preference">The cat yawned and eyed her lazily. “If I do? What’s in it for me? Food?”</p><p class="Preference">Alix glanced down at her plate of half-eaten hors d’oeuvres and shrugged. “If there’s anything on here you like, it’s yours. And I’ll rub your belly. Deal?”</p><p class="Preference">The cat meandered over and flicked his tail at a door.</p><p class="Preference">Alix put the plate on the floor behind a statue, where the cat sniffed at the hummus and took a tentative nibble. While the cat ate, she checked behind the indicated door and found a relatively spacious janitor’s closet. “If you don’t mind the smell of cleaning supplies, there’s a closet two doors down on the right.”</p><p class="Preference">“Oh, that would be <em>amazing</em>!” Chloe squealed after a moment’s hesitation, laughing shrilly at something Qadim must have said. They were on their way.</p><p class="Preference">Alix crouched behind the statue and rubbed the cat’s belly, eliciting a contented purr from him, and waited for Chloe. Only a couple minutes later, the same door Alix had come through opened, and Chloe stepped through with a middle-aged man a few centimeters shorter than her with a long, grayish beard. He had one arm wrapped around Chloe, holding her shoulder tightly, his hand drifting down her bare shoulder toward the dress’s low neckline. Her hand rested suggestively on his shirt and she was laughing at something he must have said. They were trailed by a younger man, maybe ten years older than Alix and a half-meter taller, wearing a loose-fitting suit. Chloe let the man push her against the wall, found the door Alix had described, slipped it open, and grabbed Qadim’s collar, dragging him inside with her and pulling the door closed after them.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe’s part of the plan wouldn’t take too long now. Alix let out a relieved breath: at least there was only <em>one</em> bodyguard for her to deal with. She pulled a pale blue glove out of her clutch and slipped it on, flexing her fingers to make sure it sat properly on her hand. The cat let out a plaintive meow as she stood up. “Sorry, but I’ve got work to do,” she whispered, fixing her eyes on the bodyguard. “But if you could rub up against Big-and-Tall’s leg for me, that would be super.”</p><p class="Preference">The cat groaned. “Fine, but I want chin scritches for this!” With that he pushed himself up, stretched, and walked over to the bodyguard. The cat purred inquisitively and rubbed up against him, weaving between his legs slowly before turning around to repeat the action.</p><p class="Preference">The bodyguard glanced down at the cat, furrowing his brows. Alix dashed out from her statue, chopped the man in the throat with the clutch in her opposite hand and slapped the glove over the bodyguard’s mouth. Before he could react, she touched the tips of her thumb and forefinger together, and he convulsed once before slumping over. Alix slowly guided his limp body to the floor as the door behind him opened. She scratched the cat under his chin and looked up to find Chloe, slightly shorter for having slipped her heels off in the closet.</p><p class="Preference">“Took you long enough,” Chloe observed, arching an eyebrow, her synth-Venom gun held in one hand. She opened the door entirely to reveal Qadim frozen in place.</p><p class="Preference">“Don’t tell me he was <em>that</em> quick,” Alix joked, pulling off her stun-glove and returning it to her clutch.</p><p class="Preference">Chloe scoffed as she stowed the gun in its thigh holster. “For all the bluster, it just took a single squirt!”</p><p class="Preference">The hall door opened once more and Omar slipped through, transforming the moment the door was shut behind him. “Thank you both for your assistance,” he told them before looking down at the bodyguard and studying his features carefully.</p><p class="Preference">While Harba morphed to Camouflage as the bodyguard, Alix helped Chloe drag Qadim out of the closet before shoving the unconscious bodyguard inside. The cat rubbed up against Alix’s ankle, and she idly scratched him behind the ears, eliciting a purr. Qadim, his eyelids still open, glared at the two heroes in fury. Chloe smirked and leaned over him, eyeing him seductively. “I suppose this is not how you expected our evening together to end,” she told him, arching an eyebrow. “But I hope it was satisfying for you; it was for me!” With that she swiped his eyelids closed. “We will just have to remember the anti-venom before we drop him off,” she told Harba, scooping up her shoes in one hand. “Though we could always leave him and see how long it lasts…”</p><p class="Preference">Harba snorted and pulled one of Qadim’s arms over his shoulder, leaving Chloe to support Qadim’s other arm. Chloe blinked hard several times, bringing a few tears to her eyes, and smudged her makeup slightly with the back of her hand before giving Harba a nod. They carefully made their way to the door to return to the party.</p><p class="Preference">Alix pulled the door open and rushed out ahead of them. “Quick! Make room! He–he collapsed!” A trio of men she recognized as having stood together along one wall rushed toward them. “No–no, out of the way!” she shouted. She affected a sob. “I–I was just looking for a ladies’ room, and–and he fell over!”</p><p class="Preference">Chloe and Harba had by that point covered most of the distance to the front door while Qadim’s bodyguards stood around staring at each other in confusion, unsure what to do. One approached Harba and asked something in hurried Arabic that Alix didn’t catch. Harba shook his head firmly and pointed at the men near Alix. The man nodded curtly and moved away, leaving Chloe and Harba to hurry through the doors. Once they had exited the building, Alix gave another sob, downed a glass of punch from the drink table, and followed them outside. She hopped inside the van idling at the curb to find Omar having de-transformed and already in the process of handcuffing the still-immobilized Qadim. Chloe glanced away from the compact she was using to fix her makeup, and gave Alix an approving nod. “Not bad. Your acting at the end could have used some work, though. Next time maybe we can trade places!”</p><p class="Preference">Alix gagged. From the driver’s seat, Jalil snorted.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Somehow, Alix being a Disney princess turning into her and Chloe pulling a Honey Trap on an Egyptian terrorist like something out of a Bond movie… Because how else was I supposed to get Alix into a dress?</p><p>At this point everything published on FF.net is also on AO3, so I won't be double-publishing on here unless I decide to publish multiple one-shots/stories on both sites.</p><p>PSA: The nail polish that can test for date-rape drugs was at one time a real product, not something I invented for this fic. However, I don’t think the company ever marketed it. Apparently they’re working on a stick-on nail to do the same thing, but it’s not available yet. However, there are other drink testing products available currently (none of which would necessarily be of use to Chloe while playing “spy”).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. A Late-Night Heart-to-Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ryoku and Miss Pinky meet up</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the last one-shot for the first volume of “The Life and Times of the Heroes of Paris,” but there will be a second volume, “The Life and Times of the Heroes of Europe,” starting after “A Miraculous Adventure in Tibet,” which will begin tomorrow. The first chapter or so of that story serves as a good “reset point” for the story (the continuity continues, but “Tibet” will summarize everything that’s happened already and will, with the next story, set things in motion moving forward), so it makes sense to start a new “Life and Times” volume after that. At that point I will actually have three of these one-shot anthologies running concurrently, each with a different focus.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Preference">Miss Pinky raised her jiuchidingpa at an angle in front of her face, holding it with both hands and pushing straight away from herself to catch her opponent’s sword on the handle. Her opponent redirected the sword under the rake, and Miss Pinky dropped the lower side of the rake to catch the blade, spinning away from the strike. She planted the end of the rake on the ground and used it as a pivot to aim a kick at her opponent’s head. Her opponent, however, was no longer there. As she landed on the ground, rake held to one side, bent over in a crouch, she felt the flat of the sword slap her across the shoulders.</p><p class="Preference">“Not bad this time,” Ryoku told her judiciously, sheathing her sword. The two of them had met that night to train in the park across the street from Marinette’s house, down the street from François Dupont. “That was a good counter when I anticipated your block. I take it you’ve spent some time training with Cat Noir recently?”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky nodded, resting her hands on her knees and breathing heavily. “Last week we were patrolling and it got kind of boring, so he was showing me some more staff fighting techniques.”</p><p class="Preference">“It definitely shows,” Ryoku observed. She passed her a water bottle and indicated for Miss Pinky to hand her the rake. “However, it doesn’t look like you were getting full use out of your weapon. Remember, the shaft works well as a staff, but you also have the head.” She started spinning the rake in front of her torso, shifting it smoothly between her hands and moving it from side to side. “You can use the head to block something like my sword or to catch a rope weapon like Tyran-X’s lasso. But you can also use the head’s weight to give your strikes more power, or you can use it as a counterweight to give the handle more momentum.” She demonstrated, whipping the rake handle into a tree branch so fast that the branch snapped cleanly off. Ryoku tossed the rake back to Miss Pinky, who caught it one-handed and nodded.</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky spun her rake once to the side, let it stop behind her arm, and sized up Ryoku, waiting for her to act. Ryoku, however, stood with her arms folded, looking perfectly relaxed – though after training together for over a month Miss Pinky knew better. Miss Pinky furrowed her brows, her tongue sticking out in concentration. Suddenly, she leapt, bringing the rake’s head up above her head and then down in a diagonal scything motion at Ryoku’s neck. Faster than thought, Ryoku whipped her sword out, spun to the side, and caught the rake at the joint where the head connected to the handle. Miss Pinky landed and aimed a kick at the back of Ryoku’s legs, but she anticipated the move and jumped over the kick, pushing the rake away and disengaging.</p><p class="Preference">“Good!” she called, holding her sword up in her one-handed fencing stance. “You put far more power into that strike!”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky dropped into her own fighting stance, the rake held at an angle in front of her. She dropped the rake’s head to the ground and flicked a spray of dirt into Ryoku’s eyes. Ryoku clenched her eyes shut instantly, and Miss Pinky sprang forward. Ryoku dropped back a pace and slashed at the place where she expected Miss Pinky to land. Miss Pinky caught her sword blade between two tines of her rake and pushed it aside, following it up with a spin, and brought her handle around to slash across Ryoku’s back. Ryoku ducked beneath the attack, rolled into a somersault, and flipped to her feet, just in time to block Miss Pinky’s rake head thrust.</p><p class="Preference">“Excellent use of your surroundings,” Ryoku praised her, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and blinking a couple times to clear the remaining dirt away.</p><p class="Preference">“How did you <em>do</em> that?” wondered Miss Pinky, tossing Ryoku a water bottle.</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku squirted water into her eyes and shook her head back and forth, splashing Miss Pinky. “Considering that my mother is literally a ‘blind swordswoman,’ you have no idea how many times she’s forced me to train with a blindfold!”</p><p class="Preference">“When does that come up in our training?” asked Miss Pinky, giving her a nervous look.</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe in a month or two,” she decided. Miss Pinky let out a relieved breath. “It’s a good skill to have so you can at least defend yourself if you’re ever in a situation where you can’t see, but you’re better off focusing on standard fighting for now, at least until you have the basics down.” She gave Miss Pinky a funny look. “You’ve made a lot of improvement since we got back from Le Havre. So what happened against Tyran-X last week?”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky paled and looked down at the ground. A lot of things had happened with that fight. She’d let Tyran-X throw her around again. That had probably been what distracted the others so Ryoku had nearly been killed. The only thing that had saved Ryoku’s life had been quick thinking (and Water Dragon) – and even that would have gone for nothing if the others hadn’t acted right away to save them from Night Bat’s trap. The fear and concern in Viperion’s eyes as he carried Ryoku upstairs when they had returned to the Mansion afterward had almost been enough to break Miss Pinky’s heart. And all of that had happened because <em>she</em> had gotten distracted and hurt first.</p><p class="Preference">“Rose?” Ryoku prompted, guiding her over to sit on one of the benches. “You don’t <em>have</em> to say anything if you don’t want to. It’s just–”</p><p class="Preference">“It’s my fault,” Miss Pinky interrupted, clenching her fists around her rake handle. “Back in the spring I was helping Rena Rouge with a mission. I created a distraction with a bunch of hedges, and Lynchpin brought in flamethrowers to burn them away. I didn’t know it, but Tyran-X’s wife was caught up in it and died.” She dropped the rake and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed quietly.</p><p class="Preference">After a moment Ryoku wrapped her arms around Miss Pinky and pulled her into a hug which she reciprocated, crying into Ryoku’s shoulder as Ryoku patted her hair. Before this summer, she’d hardly known Ryoku beyond their occasional patrols together. And although Kagami had come to listen to Kitty Section whenever she could during and after Spring Break, they hadn’t exactly been close. She never would have expected this kind of affection from her – whether from Ryoku or from Kagami. And despite her willingness to hug anyone who needed it, Rose would never have presumed to offer a hug to Kagami, who was easily the most aloof and closed-off person she had known. Yet for all that she could say truthfully that in the weeks since their summer trip together and all learning each other’s identities, Kagami had become one of her closest friends. That they had both spent almost every free moment since then on the Couffaines’ houseboat had probably made that inevitable.</p><p class="Preference">“That is a terrible burden to bear,” Ryoku finally observed, rubbing Miss Pinky’s back soothingly. “I cannot imagine how difficult that is.”</p><p class="Preference">“I just–I wish there was a way to make it better,” whispered Miss Pinky, clenching and unclenching her fists.</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku sighed and pulled Miss Pinky’s head down to rest on her shoulder. “I know. I’ve sometimes wished that I had Viperion’s power to go back and undo my mistakes so it’s like they never happened. But we can’t. All we can do is live with the consequences.”</p><p class="Preference">“Those consequences almost got you killed.”</p><p class="Preference">“More to the point, they almost got <em>you</em> killed,” Ryoku pointed out, squeezing her shoulder. “And if that happens, then you <em>won’t</em> be able to help Tyran-X or make up for this mistake. And in fact killing you might be the difference between him being able to come back from this and not being able to come back.”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky nodded. “I know,” she whispered, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s just hard.”</p><p class="Preference">“It is,” Ryoku agreed. “But if you’re ever going to help <em>him</em>, you need to protect yourself. And that means you need to focus.”</p><p class="Preference">“I just don’t want to have to fight him,” Miss Pinky muttered. “I’ve hurt him so much already.”</p><p class="Preference">“That may be the case, but allowing him to hurt you won’t change what happened. It won’t make anything better. It will not take away your guilt, and it will not take away his pain. Fighting him to stop him would be better in the long run since it allows him to heal – even <em>if</em> you have to hurt him to do it.”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky nodded. “You’re right. But that doesn’t make it any easier to consider.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I got you hurt so badly.”</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku shrugged. “It gave me another excuse to snuggle with my boyfriend, so it wasn’t <em>that</em> bad!”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky giggled. At least <em>some</em> good things had come out of this summer!</p><p class="Preference">Ryoku squeezed her shoulder once more and released her. “Ready to call it a night early?”</p><p class="Preference">Miss Pinky nodded in agreement and stood up. “Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow!” she stopped just before she would have jogged away. “Oh, and Kagami? Thanks.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Miss Pinky’s story is from “The Queen is Dead: Mission Logs,” Chapter 3 (<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24791269/chapters/60047851">“Cornucopia”</a>) and was also mentioned in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245559/chapters/61198363">“Ladybug’s Gambit.”</a> Miss Pinky, Ryoku, Bengalia, and Viperion all discovered each other’s identities in <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515076/chapters/61903468">“The Heart of the Storm.”</a> The one thing that really didn’t fit into that story was Kagami and Rose spending time together – the 1 day they were together is when Il Pirata showed up, and it just didn’t make sense to kill the momentum right when it started! So this one-shot of Miss Pinky and Ryoku training/bonding has been planned since then; this is just when it finally fit in.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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